Old Pomegranate bush care and feeding

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tandreehodge Kathleen, GA Aug 23, 2013

We moved to an old farm recently, and the pomegranate bush is obviously old, but the foliage is normal looking. It is Tall and about 5-6 feet around. Last summer it produced 4 pomegranates which filled with ants before they began to ripen. We fertilized it in the spring, but did not prune it. What should we do? Should we prune, etc? How do we treat this bush so that it will be happy?

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Aug 23, 2013

Depends on how much growth it is willing to put out.
If it is sort of bare and scruffy, sparse, slow growing I would not prune it much at all. Just remove the dead stuff.

If it seems willing to grow better, then the first year might still be just removing dead stuff, but you might also want to thin out some of the less productive branches. Do not just shear it back like a hedge. Thin, that is, remove old branches down to the main trunk or even to the ground (if it is growing like a thicket). Even the most healthy, fastest growing plant should not have more than 1/4 of the branches removed, including the dead or broken branches. Work on it over the course of several years. Each year thin out a few of the oldest.

I would use a slow release fertilizer and mulch it. As the soil microorganisms get going the plant will be happier, more willing to grow, if it has any recovery in it. The fertilizer choice would be based on what is lacking in your soil.

For the ants, look around for some of the less toxic approaches. Perhaps a bait they take back to their colony. You are trying to get the beneficial soil organisms to thrive, you do not want to be adding toxins to the soil.

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