Hello,
Last summer was all about putting in raised beds, and planting quite a few different plants here at home in Houston. The main goal then was to get the roots happy. That turned out pretty darn good. This year I would like to work on getting some of them fuller. Pruning is important from what I understand. What should I wait for as far as the weather? Is there a rule of thumb as far as how far back I can or should prune them. (I realize that all plants are different) And is is wise to buy a good pair of pruning shears?
Thanks, Mike
A few questions about pruning.
What plants are we talking about? A lot will matter the plants and some bloom on new wood and some on old wood...
It sure helped that we had a normal summer with adequate rainfall, for a change, that sure helped to get them off to a good start. And this "EL NINO" winter will help them even more. I'm tired of a soggy yard and I haven't seen some of my important plants up close for a while because its too muddy to get to them--but I'm not complaining. This area of Texas really is more like LA, MISS, etc. than the rest of Texas is--and I, for one, am happy to see it get back to normal rainfall patterns.
=) Debbie
A good set of pruners and shears have a million uses so it probably wouldn't hurt to invest in them.
A few of the plants I was thinking about are, the almond verbena, duranta, rangoon creeper, bottle brush, dwarf bottlebrush, pinapple guava, and a jasmine. Thanks for you time.
Mike,
I found this link. It's very basic, but it may answer most of you questions:
http://www.urimga.org/pruning_guide.html
A & M link is also helpful if you care to wade through the first few paragraphs.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/pruning/pruning.html
Rangoon Creeper cut back hard--it blooms on new wood not old wood; and don't do this until about mid-March after all danger of frost has passed. Just let it sit there until them, mulch super heavy if you can. I have a huge one; it has lost all its leaves but I will wait until March and then cut it back to about 2'. It may bud out with leaves prior to that but it does bloom on new wood--so I cut back hard every year.
bettydee, those are great links that you provided.
Thank you all for the help, the links are really good. I think I have settled on some Felco pruning shears. They seem to get very good reviews. Thanks again.