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Master Gardener experts discuss ways we can cultivate better gardens and better lifestyles through local gardening and Limestone County extension programs.
TALKIN DIRTY_ PRUNING_FINAL
ED...IT_MXVO_with normalize_6.26.24
Tue, Jul 02, 2024 10:54AM 34:04
SPEAKERS
Announcer 00:00
Music. Hello and welcome to Talking dirty at the library, where we'll talk about what's growing
here in Athens and limestone County, Alabama, each podcast features Master Gardener
experts discussing ways we can cultivate better gardens and better lifestyles through local
gardening programs.
Soozi 00:23
Well, good morning. My name is Soozi Pline. I'm the president of the Limestone County Master
Gardeners, and I'm here today talking with Jayne Luetzow, who is our Regional Extension agent,
and she is going to give a presentation later this morning for our Getting Dirty at the Library
program and all about pruning. So this morning, we're going to talk about pruning, and I'm
going to pass it on to Jayne, who's going to give you a little bio, and then we'll dive right into
pruning.
Jayne 00:55
Thank you so much for having me. Susie, it's a great day. Little bit about me, so I'm a Regional
Extension agent on our home grounds team with Alabama Cooperative Extension System. I
have been in horticulture my entire life. I grew up in the nursery industry. My parents had a
wholesale and retail operation in Montgomery, Alabama, and I have been with Extension for a
little bit better than a year and a half. I love what I do. I currently I serve six counties here in
Northwest Alabama, and I serve all of our homeowners and gardeners here in Northwest
Alabama.
Soozi 01:37
So you are quite the expert. You're the person we need to be talking to this morning. First of all,
what is pruning? What does that mean when we talk about pruning?
Jayne 01:48
All right, so I always like to tell people that pruning is like giving your plants a haircut. Just like
we have to go to the barber or the salon, we have to give our plants a haircut every once in a
while. Pruning is basically helping the plant to rejuvenate, put on new growth for better flower
and fruit production. It's also going to help improve the health overall of the plant. It's going to
help prevent disease. One of the things that we battle here in the southeast are fungal diseases
due to our heat and our humidity. And when we're able to prune and open up, say, the canopy
of a tree or a shrub, that's going to allow for better light penetration and air circulation. Overall,
we also prune for esthetic values. So, for example, with topiaries or hedges, for example, if we
wanted to make cute little animal shapes, or if we wanted to make, say, a cone shape, or again,
pruning for that hedge, maybe you want to keep that neighbor in check. Now, what pruning is
not, and I do want to emphasize this...pruning is not a way to compensate for poor planting, or
specifically poor location for plants. For example, if you were to plant right up next to your
home, and you had a large tree or even a large shrub and it's gotten overgrown. Yes, we've
probably all seen that one shrub or that house that has those shrubs that are completely
overgrown. Pruning is not a way to compensate for that. Again, we have a term in Extension
that we call 'right plant right place.' So when you are thinking about planting and you're going
to the garden center, it's very important to remember the mature size that plant is going to
get, because you're going to have to take care of that plant. Now we always say there are low
maintenance plants. But there's no such thing as no maintenance plants. So again, one of the
primary things as a gardener and a homeowner is, remember, you're going to have to prune
and take care of that plant when you get it home, and year after year. So that's a little bit
about what pruning is. Anything else you want me to add? Soozi?
Soozi 04:21
Well, yes, because, hmm, I'm thinking, I have some plants that are really leggy, and you know,
I'd like to get in there and prune them. And I'm wondering, can you just prune any time of the
year, or does it matter when you prune?
Jayne 04:38
All right, so great question. So what I like to tell people is we have a rule, and it's called the May
rule. If a plant blooms prior to May 1, okay, so it's a spring blooming plant, you want to prune it
immediately after it blooms. This means that plant blooms on what we call old wood, so it sets
its buds later on in the year on old wood. So for example, azaleas, rhododendrons, those are
good examples of old wood plants. Again, they have to be pruned immediately after they have
bloomed. Now, if it's easier for you to remember holidays, I always like to say that you want to
prune between... for old wood plants for for those plants that bloom before May 1...you want to
prune between Memorial Day and Fourth of July. Okay? Now, most of our plants, a lot of our
flowering and deciduous plants, they will bloom in the summertime. If it's a summertime
blooming plant, meaning that it blooms after May 1, you want to prune that in the late winter
and early spring. So for us here in the southeast, specifically here in North Alabama, we want to
prune primarily in late January through mid March. I'll be honest with you, February is our big
month for pruning. We have about, if you were to do the math, about a good solid eight weeks
where that's our prime pruning season. That's when we want to do a majority of our pruning.
Again, if it's a plant that blooms after May 1, that means it blooms on new wood. So for
example, we have crepe myrtles, I know that's a big one for us here, that bloom on new wood.
They're a summer blooming plant. Another one might be some of our Limelight hydrangeas. If
we have any butterfly bush, anything like that, you want to prune that in late winter. Knockout
roses are another good example of this. They primarily bloom in the summertime, and so you
want to prune those in late winter, early spring. And again, I want to reiterate, this is called the
May rule. So if it is a spring blooming plant, you will prune it immediately after it's bloom in the
spring. If it is a summer blooming plant, you want to prune that in late winter, early spring. So
that's a little bit about time of year. The main thing as a homeowner, if you can't remember
anything else, remember you want to know when your plant blooms. That'll tell you when to
prune. So remember that May rule, if anything else you don't get out of today, remember the
May rule, that's the time that you want to prune.
Soozi 07:44
Well, I know there are 1000s and 1000s of plants out there, so we can't go into every single
plant, but you mentioned azaleas. What about the Encore azaleas?
Jayne 07:56
Ah, very good. Very good. Okay, so let me do a little history about Encore azaleas. They are a
trademarked azalea. They were created and designed out of Louisiana, and then they have
been patented and sold by Flowerwood Nursery, which is located in Loxley, Alabama. Encore
azaleas, they bloom multiple times a year, so they will bloom in the spring and then they will
also bloom in the fall. They will bloom in the spring and in the fall. And primarily, you don't
necessarily have to prune those Encore azaleas. Now I say that... if you start to see a branch
that gets very leggy, that sort of thing, go ahead and prune that out. But for the most part, we
don't necessarily have to worry about pruning Encores. If you were to do some pruning, you
want to just do some light pruning. And I would do that in that late - late winter, say, after the
fall season, in about December, January time frame. That's when you would do some light
pruning. But for the most part, they really don't require a whole lot of pruning, which is a great
thing for homeowners. Again, that low maintenance. That's a real benefit with growing Encore
azaleas, and they do great here in the southeast. I love Encores. They will grow
primarily...matter of fact, we grow them at our nursery...they will grow both in part sun, part
shade and I've even seen a fairly sun tolerant as well. We've got some very new cultivars on
the market, and there are some that will even tolerate that full sun, so just be on the on the
lookout for them. I'd highly recommend checking out your local garden center for them.
Soozi 09:44
Okay, here's another one, hydrangeas. I know your May rule doesn't apply for every plant, and
that's one that that's really tricky, because some of them bloom on old wood and some of them
bloom on new wood.
Jayne 10:00
Yes, and hydrangeas are that exception. Because, you know, there's always an exception to
every rule, and it's very important to remember, when does that plant bloom? Now, for
example, oak leaf hydrangeas, I have them at my own home. I love them. They're an old South
plant. We have them all over, especially here in North Alabama, they're one of those exceptions
to the rule. And in general, I tell people, don't worry about pruning them. Mine have just now
started to flush back out, and they're putting on their leaves. I generally say, Don't worry about
pruning them. If it is, say, for example, a Limelight, Limelights or a new cultivar on the market.
They're very popular right now. Those bloom on new wood. So that would be an example of one
that we would prune in late winter. Now, there are some smooth bark hydrangeas, and there
are some spring flowering hydrangeas. Again, going back to that May rule you want to prune it
immediately after it is bloomed. That's the big important key, is knowing when that plant
blooms. But like I said, for the most part, for the oak leafs, don't worry about pruning them.
They will do perfectly fine, even without pruning. If you were, you would do some light pruning,
say, for example, cane type pruning, and pruning them down at the base if they were to get too
leggy or too large. But again, that's one of those discretionary pruning. I like to give a plant a
natural shape. So again, I'm not one to lop off the tops of a plant I like, especially our
hydrangeas. Many of them have a beautiful arching or natural shape to them. So you don't
want to just whack them away, whack at them (laugh) if I can say that on a podcast. And do a
little research too, if I can make a little plug, if you go to our ACES website, aces.edu and you
wanted to look up more information about pruning or hydrangeas, search in the search box,
and it's going to give you all the information you need on when to prune and how to prune that
specific hydrangea. Or call me at your local county extension office. We can help you.
Soozi 12:18
And aces, that's an acronym for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. It's very great
resource for everyone. Well, let's talk about, you mentioned a little bit about how you're going
to prune. What are we going to use to prune? Because, you know, I see a lot of people, they
they go to the store and they get those electric hedge trimmers. I'm thinking, okay, there's so
much more to pruning than just having those electric hedge trimmers. What do you
recommend? What tools do you use?
Jayne 12:48
Okay, so I am a big proponent of... and probably the gardener's favorite tool is going to be just
some hand snips. My primary tool when it comes to pruning is going to be a pair of pruners,
and that's one of the main tools that I always like to tell gardeners, that's what you're going to
use. Other tools that come in handy are going to be loppers. Those are going to be great for
pruning some of your more woody, a little bit larger woody plants. Now that's going to be less
than one inch in diameter, about one inch in diameter, not a big honking log. But for those
woody shoots and some smaller limbs, that's going to be a great one for you to use. Another
one that I do recommend a homeowner use are a small hand saw. Now I will tell you hand
saws, and actually, any of these pruners can be very sharp. So make sure that when you are
working in the garden, in the landscape, make sure that you use some common sense and
some safety. Always make sure that you wear a good pair of gloves to protect your hands.
Another tip that I recommend for when you're using the equipment is to always sanitize and
sharpen your pruner your tools. A lot of times January is a great time. Early January, right after
we've come back from the holidays, go ahead down to your local hardware store. And if you're
using an electric or a gas pair of shears, make sure that they're working really well, and go
ahead and get everything sharpened, sanitize them. Now, along those lines, I mentioned using
the gas or the electric shears. Those are great tools for us. Now, they're primarily used when
you are shearing, so you're doing heading cuts, so you're going to be making hedges. Don't use
your gas or your electric shears to prune up into the canopy of a tree, that sort of thing. They
are primarily used to shape. Okay to do heading, what we call heading cuts. So to basically
take off the new growth of that plant, you want to shape it. Other tools that we see often in the
trade are things like chainsaws. Now I'm not going to go too much into chainsaw safety.
However, when you're using a chainsaw, you always want to make sure that you are wearing
chaps. The reason for that is to protect your legs. You never want to have...and that's one of
the main things we see with EMTs, with accidents and chainsaws, is somebody has basically cut
their leg open. Another thing too is if you have to walk with the chainsaw more than a couple of
steps, make sure that you turn that chainsaw off and turn it where the blade is facing behind
you when you have to walk and work with it. Another thing, too, never be on a ladder. I see this
a lot and and I'll even admit I have known some people who are guilty of this. If you have to be
on a ladder with a chainsaw, it's probably too big of a job for that particular equipment. If you
have to get up into the canopy of a tree, it's probably better to use something like a pole saw,
and they can be either electric, gas or even a mechanical pole saw. So again, that's just some
safety tips when you're using your chainsaw. If you do have further questions, contact our
forestry and wildlife agent. She does an excellent job with some further chainsaw safety
classes. So we highly recommend that for a lot of homeowners,
Soozi 16:34
Great. That's great. Now you mentioned not just safety, you mentioned sanitation. And I know
that I keep a little spray bottle with a mix of alcohol, diluted a little bit, and I spray my tools as
I'm working around on my pruning. Do you have some other suggestions, and maybe, and
maybe even a recipe of the mix?
Jayne 16:58
Okay, some reasons that we like to sanitize our tools is to prevent disease, and specifically the
spread of disease. So, for example, roses are notorious for getting black spot, and this is both
for knockout roses, for your floribunda roses, They're notorious for getting black spot. And one
reason that we will sanitize is to prevent that spread of the disease. Matter of fact, I often
recommend with the roses almost every time when you go to make cuts, go ahead and
sanitize, because they are notorious... between each cut, go ahead and sanitize because you're
going to prevent that spread of the disease. Now a couple of things you can use for sanitation.
You mentioned using a little diluted rubbing alcohol, that's perfectly fine. That's one common
one that I recommend. Another one, any kind of household cleaner is perfectly fine. Now, one
thing I don't recommend, actually, and some people go, why not? Is vinegar. I wouldn't
recommend using vinegar. It tends to not clean your tools as well, but any sort of household
cleaning product is perfectly fine. And you want to just spray it in a spray bottle and then wipe
it down with a cloth or a paper towel. And I get this question too, can I use like Lysol wipes,
something similar, and that's perfectly fine for folks to use. In general, though, if you were to do
a home, a DIY recipe, I generally recommend about a two to one rubbing alcohol solution is
perfectly fine, and you would put that into a spray bottle. And again, just remember to always
wipe off the product after you've sanitized. Generally too, after I have done my pruning.... now,
this is being meticulous... but, but after I have done my pruning project, I try to sanitize my my
tools so that they're ready to go for the next time. That's one of those habits that we have to
get into is try to sanitize and clean your tools after each pruning or each job.
Soozi 19:07
Alright, very good. Well, I know it's going to be a little harder to talk about technique and types
of pruning without a visual, but do you think you could go into a little detail on...yes? Think so?
Nod your head. Okay, let's do that. So
Jayne 19:23
I'm gonna talk about four types of pruning. Okay, the first is what we call thinning cuts.
Thinning cuts, basically, you are going inside the canopy of the tree or the shrub. I'll often say
thinning cuts are probably the primary type of pruning that we like to do. Thinning cuts, what
you want to do is prune out any crossing branches, any branches that are rubbing against each
other. Also look for any disease damaged or broken branches. If it's a tree or, even a shrub, you
also want to prune out any water spouts or any suckers. So water spouts are often found, if I
can use this example. Again, it's a little bit hard on a podcast versus visual...but water spouts,
they're a branch that tend to be up in the canopy, and they go straight up. For example, crepe
myrtles are notorious for putting on a water spout, so they are a branch that's on the trunk of
the tree. They tend to go straight up. Suckers... again, crepe myrtles are notorious for this.
Suckers tend to grow at the base of the plant, and they will start to put on a new shoot, and
people are often afraid to prune that out. They think, oh, that's the new baby plant. But what
that sucker and even the water spout is doing is actually taking away nutrients and water and
resources from the the adult, from the primary plant. And often, too, a sucker can be a sign
that the plant might be struggling a little bit, because it's trying to perpetuate new life. But
again, that goes back to the health of the plant. So anytime I see that you want to make sure
that you prune those out. So that's thinning cuts. Again, thinning cuts...basically you're going to
go inside the canopy, and you're going to be basically hiding those cuts. I always say a good
thinning cut, you won't see the cuts. You will not see those cuts. And this can be done for both
trees and shrubs. A second type of pruning is what we call heading cuts. This is done to the
new growth of a plant. So you're taking your shears and you are cutting the new growth. It's
very common for your needled plants, such as arbovitae. Can also be done for boxwoods and
for your hedges. So you're just going to tip off and prune off that new growth and round out.
Something I do want to mention to our audience, when you are pruning needled plants, do not
prune them back to their trunk, because they will not grow back . A needle plant does not have
the growth... or the tissue to put on new growth. So for example, arbovitae, junipers, those are
good examples of our needle plants. You do not want to do hard prunes on them. You can shear
them, so again, just kind of shape them, say, with your hedge trimmers. But you don't want to
go into the canopy and be doing a hard prune on that plant. Otherwise it's not going to come
back. Heading cuts are primarily done again when we have that new flush of growth on it. So
even in the later spring and into the summer, that might be a time that you do some heading
cuts to shape that plant. You're not going into the canopy. You're just shaping it. A third type of
pruning is what we call cane type pruning. Cane type pruning is done for plants like Nandina
and also your roses and even some of your hydrangeas. So you're actually going to be pruning out the old canes or the old growth of that plant. You're going to prune down at the
very base of the plant and take out that unproductive old growth. I'll be honest with you, I think
about freaked out my mother in law one time because I got after her roses and I did a pretty
good, hard prune or a good cane type pruning, but she thanked me in the end, because she
had prettier flowers and better production out of her plant than she had ever had. Again, if you
can take anything else away from today, don't be afraid to prune it's going to help the plant. If
you see any time that a plant has disease or pests, that's one of my first signs of defense at
preventing a disease in a pest, go ahead and prune it out any time of year. If you see
something that's disease, broken, damaged, go ahead and prune it out. A fourth type of
pruning, and again, this might be a little bit harder to explain...is what we call the three cut
method for pruning. So this is pruning for larger branches, say, for example, on a tree, or even
on a larger shrub, maybe where you need to use your hand saw. What you would want to do...
on a tree, you have what is called a branch collar. Okay, I always like to say a branch collar is
that location...it's kind of a swollen spot between the trunk of the tree and the branch, and
there's a lot of meristematic tissue and a lot of growth. There's a lot of cellular division that's
occurring in that spot. If I can compare it, it's almost like the shoulder of a tree. Um. Again, it's
going to be a little bit larger. And when you're pruning a branch, again, a large branch, you
need to take it off...you want to always prune...and Soozi can see me, I'm trying to mimic here,
it's a little bit easier for me to do... You always want to prune on the outside of that branch
collar, at least six inches, if not a foot, away from the branch collar. And you're going to do
three cuts, again, this is called the three cut method. So the first cut you're going to do, you're
going to go about six inches to 12 inches away from the branch collar, because you don't want
to cut into it. You're going to cut underneath. You're going to do an undercut, and you're going
to go about halfway underneath. Okay, then you're going to go up a couple more inches, okay,
and you are going to cut all the way through. Now, the reason you do that undercut is that's
going to take a majority of the weight, and it's going to stop the branch from completely
ripping. That's what you don't want. You're going to do an undercut, and then you're going to
go a couple of inches ahead, at least about six inches, and then you're going to do a complete
cut all the way through the branch, and that's going to take a majority of the branch off. Now
our last cut is what we call a top cut. You're going to come back to where we did that undercut,
and then you're going to saw it completely all the way through. And you want to do make sure
that you do a good clean cut. So again, this is called the three cut method, and I apologize. I
wish I had a little bit of a show and tell. But if you are have questions about it, contact me or go
to aces.edu The reason that we do a three cut method, again, it's so that you get a good, clean
branch cut. If you were to just do a solid straight through cut, the bulk of the weight of that
branch is going to fall off, and it potentially is going to rip. And then what will happen is the
branch will not be able to heal or to seal back properly, and then that's when you get disease or
the potential for disease and pests in that branch. So when you're pruning a tree branch, use
the three cut method.
Soozi 27:16
Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring this up. So we will wrap up today with a really hot topic, and
that is what we, we locally call crepe murder, but it is a type of technique called pollarding. Can
you explain a little bit about why people use that pruning technique, the pollarding, and why
people are so adverse to that being used on our crape myrtles,
Jayne 27:46
All right, so let me give you a little history. So Pollard pruning is actually a type of heading back
pruning. So that was that second type I mentioned. It was originally found or done in France, in
King Louis the 14th time period. So think Versailles, Mary Antoinette time period. They did this
more for an aesthetic value. They thought it looked really pretty. Pollard printing often almost
has a candelabra shape when done properly. Here in the US.... and I have seen this because I
lived in a larger city at one time...pollard pruning is often done when you're in a very urban
environment and you need the tree to stay a particular size and shape. There are trees that do
very well when we pollard prune. So for example, the tulip poplar is one of those trees that
actually does well when you pollard prune. Now, if you are to pollard prune, and to do it
properly, you would actually prune that tree, start it when it's very young. If you do this to a
tree that's very mature, it's not going to do well. Now, again, I want to reiterate, you do this
more in a very urban environment. For us here in North Alabama, even in Huntsville, there's
really no need to pollard prune. And generally, I don't recommend pollard pruning for most
homeowners. And if you are to do pollard pruning, do not do it yourselves. Call a tree service to
do it. Now, going back to your original question with crepe myrtles, many people think that
they are pollard pruning when they prune a crepe myrtle, okay, but what they're actually doing
is, honestly, they're topping a crepe myrtle. Topping is basically you are lopping off the very
top of that tree, and then what's going to happen is you're going to get these spindly, new little
branches that come off of the crepe myrtle. They're going to be weak, and they tend to not do
very well. With a crepe myrtle, remember to treat it like a tree. Okay, so when you're pruning
the trees, we want to use thinning cuts so.... and I forgot to mention this earlier, I have some
acronyms. We call it triple D and Triple C. So when we're pruning a crepe myrtle, and really any
tree for that matter, remember to prune out any diseased, damaged or broken branches, okay,
or dying branches. For triple C, remember crossing branches, branches that are competing with
each other and branches that are crowding, okay? So remember when you're pruning a crepe
myrtle, treat it like a tree. Do not pollard or top a crepe myrtle. Okay? You want to open the
canopy of the crepe myrtle. Again that's going to allow light penetration and good air
circulation, so you're going to prevent disease and pests. So a real common disease problem
that we see with crepe myrtles right now... this is a big one... is crepe myrtle bark scale. We
also see issues with powdery mildew. We see issues with aphids, and they produce a
substance. It's called sooty mold. Sooty mold is another one that is caused by the aphids. So
again, when you're pruning that crepe myrtle, make sure that you treat it like a tree. Do not
top, aka pollard prune, a crepe myrtle. Now there are some varieties of crepe myrtles that are
more shrub like, and there are some varieties that are more tree like. If it's more of a shrub,
again, treat it like a shrub, those same method. But for most of us here in the southeast, and
again, we see it all over town...crepe myrtles are a great street tree....treat it like a tree, okay,
and most of our pruning will be done in that late winter, early spring,
Soozi 31:59
okay. Thank you very much for being here today. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Maybe contact information, yes. How can we reach you? Because you know people are gonna
have questions now.
Jayne 32:11
Alright if y'all have questions, or if you just need some advice on gardening and landscaping, I
can be reached at a couple of ways. First, by email. It's M as in Mary, J as in Jane, F as in Frank,
0007@auburn.edu , so War Eagle. And then my cell phone number is area code is 256- 308-8830. Folks can text me pictures. I highly recommend that. If you have questions, maybe you're like, what's wrong with my plant? I don't know what's happened to it, text me a picture, give me a call. Or go by your local county extension office. My primary office is located in Hartselle, Alabama, but I do serve here in limestone County. If you are unfamiliar with where the Limestone County extension office is, we're located right off of Market Street. Go visit Chloe Wilson or miss Camilla Green. Also, if you have issues with you don't know what insect you have or plant pests, that's another thing that we can help you with.
So again, I highly recommend y'all come by, stop by the extension office, come visit us. So
again, I want to thank you, Soozi, for having me. It's been a real pleasure.
33:29
It has been a pleasure.
Announcer 33:34
You've been listening to Talking Dirty at the Library, a podcast produced by the Athens
limestone County Public Library in cooperation with the Limestone County Extension office and
Master Gardener program. Join us next time to see where we're growing...And to hear other
recordings from our library Voices Podcast Series, please visit the Athens limestone County
Library website at alcpl.org you