January 9 , 2013
Pruning prep + Fruit trees + Rooftop gardens
Christmas visible light are down , but my shrimp plant radiate like vacation lights all day !
That brings up thetop questionright now : when do we make clean up and cut down back ? Well , I ’m not cutting back that beaut just yet . I ’ll take the Felcos to it in March to restore its luscious figure . With our swing from hot to block , we do n’t want to encourage novel increment on potentially sore plants like this one . I ’ve never lost one to super freeze , but raw growth would be fry . Our lives can get stress , but no ground to freak out our plants !
I did cut back my hardy pink skullcaps ( Scutellaria suffrutescens ) that were just too woody . They wo n’t mind as they travel rapidly up to cover themselves afresh .
Same thing goes forSalvia greggii , even though some are trying to flower . Do it anyway ! cut them back several column inch now will upgrade raw increment and lots of flowers before long ( since they bloom on new woods ) . If you let this go , you ’ll end up with lots of woody outgrowth and a disappointing view come May .
My Copper Canyon daisy ( Tagetes lemmonii ) just has n’t get this figured out yet !
It ’s presuppose to bloom in declination , but it wimped around since my garden miss all those rains . Although it ’s drought tolerant , this one was only in its second time of year . I leave it some deep soakings and it popped back from death row . Now , I ’ll let it blossom its small head off and cut it back several column inch in a few workweek . I did n’t prune last wintertime and that was a mistake . Pruning = powerful pretty !
Another plant we can dress sooner than later is rock climb ( Pavonia lasiopetala ) that is a total mess if you do n’t take a firm mitt .
Now , most of us cognize this as a passably - in - pinkish perennial suffrutex . Butviewer Laurahas one that seeded out everlasting white !
Daphne explain howLaura cease up with this beauty , and how she can get more of them . In a nutshell , Daphne account that bloodless flowers are recessive in tilt rise . But sometimes through pollination , genes traverse in such a style that both parent contribute the recessionary white - flowering factor , instead of the pink - flowering one . Cool , huh ? !
If you ’ve been hankering for your own fruit trees , grapes , or blackberry , industrious Jim Kamas , Texas AgriLife Extension fruit specialist , unite Tom this workweek .
Find out which tree are self - pollinating or need another variety to fruit , how to further plant health , and when to prune . Check outTexas A&M ’s comprehensive Fruit & Nuts fact sheetsfor details on every mouth - watering one on your list !
A aboriginal yield tree diagram that works even as an understory is Texas persimmon ( Diospyros texana),Daphne ’s Pick of the Week .
Lamar Hankins and his wifeare favorable to have them naturalizing on their San Marcos dry land .
Last twelvemonth , Lamar experiment to make the perfect jelly / jam from their black fruits , which he report tastes like blackberry jam . Here ’s hisyummy recipe .
Since now is when nurseries will have bare antecedent fruit tree diagram , grapes , and Chuck Berry in stock , John Dromgooleshows you how to plant them .
Like stark rootage rose , which are bear witness up , it ’s essential to put them in a bucket of water for a few hours before embed . Absolutely , do not let their root dry out out !
On term of enlistment , see how these gardeners are really on top of affair with rooftop vegetables , fruits , and succulent ! Contemporary architecture , architectural plants , and constitutive gardening come up together withdesigner Patrick Kirwinand project architect Thomas Tornbjerg ofBercy Chen Studio .
Thanks for curb in ! See you next workweek , Linda
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