Evening star., 1949-07-10

The home gardener should md
summer pruning an important
step in the maintenance Of the
health and beauty of his shrub
border.
The general rule is to prune
early spring -flowering shrub S
after the blooming season, sum-
mer-fowering shrubs in the early
spring, and evergreens IN March
or September.
The reasons for this program
are relatively simple. The early
spring Towering shrubs form their
buds for the next seasons bloom
in the late summer and fall, thus
pruning in the winter or early
spring removes flower buds. Most
summer Towering shrubs produce
their flowers on the current sea-
sons growth, hence spring prun-
ing encourages new growth end
more blossoms. The pruning OF
evergreens timed to precede their
periods of growth so that the
new growth quickly hides the bare
spots left by pruning.
Strength Of Plant Utilized.
In this article I am primarily
concerned with the summer prun-
ing of the early spring-flowering
shrubs, those that have completed
their Towering for this season.
While 1t is freely admitted that
such shrubs can be pruned in
the late winter or early spring,
theoretically it is desirable to do
the job at such season that the
plants strength Is directed into
the new shoots which begin to
form shortly after Towering is
over. In summer pruning. the
foliage may make 1t q bit less
easy to see where to make the
cuts. This, however. cannot be
serious since most of our shrubs
are not too we'll covered with To-
liage at the base and the cuts
should be made as close to the
ground as possible.
Pruning at a higher level de-
stroys the natural shape and char
acter of the plant. The topmost
buds of a branch develop into
the new shoots and so II we prune
at a height Of 2, 3 or 4 feet. we
will find that the new shoots will
break" near those levels. This
leaves the base more or less bare
and unattractive. The tops of
many bushes soon become Pc
culiar-looking masses Of bird
cage-like groupings Of the shoots.
BY pruning at the base it is quite
probable that the major portion
of the new shoots will spring
from the ground or near that point
which is the natural way for a
bush to grow. A regular pruning,
such as suggested here, tends to
keep shrubs young in appearance
BY removing from VI to 70 of
the canes each year the entire top
Is renewed every three or four
years. This program may sound
complicated, but most gardeners
once trying 1t find it to be simple.
The oldest canes, which are easily
recognized by their darker color
and rougher bark are the ones to
be removed.
Old Wood Encourages Insects.
Some may wonder why they
should plan to renew the tops Of
their bushes every 3 or 4 years.
The reason is that 1t is the new
wood that bears the best quality
bloom, although second-year wood
produces nearly equal quality.
Beginning with the third year the
quality begins to decline and be-
yond that age Is likely to be un-
Another factor, is that
the old wood is most likely to har-'
Dor insects and diseases. Hence,
a regular pruning schedule tends
to restrict Towering to the most
productive branches which are
less likely to be infested with dis
ease and insect pests.
The exceptions to this pruning
program are the lilacs, azaleas and
rhododendrons. Normally. we re-
move only the dead canes Of lilacs.