Crimes against Nature

They say confession is good for the soul, so I'll go first.

1) I'm one of those who performs massacre pruning on the crape myrtles. Reason: I want to see blooms at eye level. What I should have done was purchase a short or dwarf variety, but I didn't know better at that time. I'm lucky that mine doesn't have those horrible nubs. CJ, are you totally disgusted w/ me?

2) I have a var. privet that I have shaped like a box. Why, you ask? Just plain, unadulterated weirdness. Luckily, it is planted in a place where nobody ever looks. After several years, I can't let it grow naturally because it would crowd my gardenias, so my box is there to stay.

How about you? Committed any crimes against nature lately?

This message was edited Feb 13, 2007 3:10 PM

Well to the cactus people, what I'm doing to two Cererus cactus would probably be grounds for lethal injection. They have been left outside to fend for themselves for going on 3 years now. I started with 3, but one finally bit the dust a few months ago. The others are doing just fine and seem to laugh off 20 degree temps.

X

ps, I confess that anything you do to crepe messy is fine with me. hate those with a passion. They are messy and nasty and stink something awful when those fallen flowers start rotting .. had to live with a forest of them a few years back .. as to the privet, isnt that what they are for? sculpture?

This winter I performed "surgery" on an old garden rose. I know, I know - severe pruning not recommended but it was all spindly and had a lot of rust and I was just annoyed with it because it wasn't growing at all. I decided to prune it back to a couple of sticks and see whether that would revive it before I shovel prune it for good. Time will tell.

Around here we have a lot of crimes against nature in the form of conifers pruned into "pom-pom" trees. ....shudder....

I admit it. I'm guilty of taking an axe, a hachet, and any other sharp instruments I could find to cut the massive maple tree roots that were invading my flower bed. That thing is HUGE and the roots are everywhere. Before I planted anything in my front yard bed, I dug down about 1-2 feet and just hacked away at any roots I found. It took me weeks to clear out that bed, and it's only about 10' x 5'! That was a couple of years, ago and judging from the dismal performance of the plants in the front yard, I'd say it's time for some more serious root pruning. However, it's now loaded with perennials and bulbs, so that may be a bit of a problem. :-P Tamara

This message was edited Feb 12, 2007 1:21 PM

vossner....guilty of "crepe murder" ...shame on you! You see it everywhere around here so you are not alone! lol