Peffley: Always prune with a purpose - don't just hack away
Today's column has two subjects. This will be the first of several weeks on pruning landscape plantings and then we provide additional information asked for by a Lubbock A-J reader interested in last week's column on pomegranates.
Where to begin? First, always prune with an objective in mind and understand the growth habit of your tree, shrub or bush. Pruning is the removal of plant parts for a purpose - never just start whacking away. Most landscape plants, properly placed, require little major pruning to obtain the specimen's natural growth habit. There is, however, routine maintenance. That is what we will concentrate upon in the next few weeks.
The discussion on pruning is important and requires the introduction of some basic botany with what may be new words.
Begin by removing the obvious. Certain species of trees - especially oaks - produce hundreds of small shoots that arise spontaneously from trunks of mature trees. These are adventitious shoots.
Adventitious (ad-ven-tih-shus) in horticulture vernacular refers to structures that develop in an unusual place; adventitious buds develop from places other than a shoot apical meristem, the tiny cluster of cells that are found at the very tip of a stem.
Adventitious shoots that arise from trunks of trees are weak, as they do not have a connection with the vascular system (tissue that moves water and other substances throughout the plant).
When young, these can be removed simply by hand; if allowed to grow, removal requires using pruning shears to make sharp, clean cuts in line with the trunk. If left unmanaged the shoots mature into weak, unsightly, upright twigs, so take care of them at an early stage when little effort is required to remove them.
More on pruning next week.
A.D. of Lubbock asks: Are pomegranate plants available in Lubbock, what soils do pomegranates need, and how much time from planting to fruiting?
Answer: Pomegranate varieties are available in local nurseries, but are usually ornamentals that produce few or small fruits. We purchase edible varieties via mail order. A Texas source of the two most common edible varieties, "Sweet" and "Wonderful," is Womack Nursery of De Leon, Texas, (254) 893-6497.
For optimum fruit load production, pomegranates need full sun, without crowding, in soil with good drainage. Length of time from planting to fruiting depends upon the stage of maturity of the plant.
Juvenile plants propagated from seed require several years before bearing fruit, while plants propagated from cuttings of a mature shrub may bear the first year or two after becoming established.
ELLEN PEFFLEY TAUGHT HORTICULTURE AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL FOR 28 YEARS, 25 OF THOSE AT TEXAS TECH, DURING WHICH TIME SHE DEVELOPED TWO ONION VARIETIES. SHE IS NOW THE SOLE PROPRIETOR OF FROM THE GARDEN, A MARKET GARDEN FARMETTE. YOU CAN EMAIL HER AT email@example.com.