It is deciduous, but considered a 4 season plant mainly because:

• It has lush dark green leaves.

• It flowers white in early summer.

• It has bright yellow fall color and cinnamon colored exfoliating bark.

As you can see it’s a great plant, but you need to be aware of its capabilities.

The first year or two it grows slow while it establishes. Then the pace picks up and it becomes quite vigorous.

As a climber I’ve yet to see its limit in height. Planted at the base of a large tree it will cling and climb until it reaches the top. I’m talking 60′ no problem.

The good news is you can control climbing hydrangea with proper pruning. But I say that with a warning.  If you use it in a limited space, like the one we’re about to talk about, you must be diligent with your pruning or it will easily take over the area.

It’s Doing Well – Too Well!

How do you respond to a customer that says that to you?

“I’m glad your climbing hydrangea is doing well, but sorry it’s covering your house.”

You can avoid those embarassing moments by knowing a plant’s capability right from the start.  Then you can advise your customer what to expect, how they can care for it or how others will care for it.

In the picture above climbing hydrangea is working well on this brick wall. But the plant wants to get bigger, as it does every year. It’s in its DNA.

Notice that the real dominant growth is towards the top. It wants to climb and get as tall as it can. I’ve used climbing hydrangea on homes where it is maintained just below the second story eaves. Not easy to do, but the look is beautiful.

How To Go About Controlling This Climber

The best time to prune climbing hydrangea is after it flowers.

The new flower buds are formed soon after flowering and remain on those stems for the following year. So you’d rather not cut those off if possible.

However, unless you operate with a “calendar of tasks” for your maintenance accounts, you will most likely prune the hydrangea when you’re there pruning everything else.

So regardless of when you prune climbing hydrangea, cut back the long shoots and those growing outward from the wall to just above a bud or leaf point. Prune selectively using hand pruners.

Often I’ll follow an aggressively growing branch to its “point of origin” and make my cut there.  This is the point where the lateral branch connects to a larger stem.

This climber produces “aerial roots” that attach themselves to whatever structure is nearby. When first planted you may have to help it attach to the structure by:

• Installing the plant so it deliberately leans and touches the wall or structure.

• Tying some of the main branches to the wall or structure temporarily till they attach. Several materials and methods will do this, but be careful these ties don’t constrict around the branches.

These aerial roots will sometimes leave a mark and organic residue on the surface after they attach. On this home some of the branches attached to the white shutters. It took extra time and effort to scrub them clean.

Like with all plants, when you know and understand their characteristics you can use them creatively and effectively. How have you used climbing hydrangea in your landscapes?  Did it perform as you expected or surprise you?  Let us know in the comments.

This category of juniper fills a useful design niche in the landscape. Most stay relatively narrow, yet grow tall. Sometimes referred to as columnar or fastigiate.

Typically they are very hardy, drought tolerant, and adaptable to a variety of conditions.

Often, however, upright juniper are not pruned, but allowed to “go-it on their own”.  This usually causes an open, lanky growth habit.  As a result they have a less than stellar reputation.

Once you understand the characteristics of upright junipers and how to care for them, they’ll become a useful plant in your landscapes.

A Common Characteristic Not Talked About But One You Need To Know

Qualities that make most upright junipers useful in landscape design are:

• their narrow form

• their hardiness

• their unique texture

There’s another characteristic that’s common to most, and that’s how they grow.  All their growth energy goes to the terminal ends of the main branches. If not “selectively pruned” regularly these branches keep getting longer and heavier.  This causes each branch to stay thin with minimal side growth and eventually pull away from the center of the plant.

Lost Cause?… Not Necessarily

In the picture above is an upright juniper we planted a few years back.  This was a tough spot to select a plant. The space was narrow, but height was needed.  The exposure was full sun so the heat got intense in the summer.

This upright juniper (sorry, I don’t remember the exact variety) fit the bill.

But look what happened.  The maintenance company  either overlooked the pruning, or didn’t know how.

So is this plant now a lost cause? Not at this point. You can still save the plant and reverse its decline by:

• “Selectively” pruning back the terminal end of each branch to reduce its length and weight.

• Using Arbor Tie to support the sagging branches by guying them to the center stem of the plant.

Pruning the terminal end of each branch removes the apical bud and encourages lateral or side buds to grow.  This naturally makes the plant grow fuller and stronger.

The Arbor Tie lets you pull the branch back to its correct position and hold it there.  These ties should be temporary until the branches get stronger and hold their position on their own.  This might take 2 or 3 years.

Even though the Arbor Tie is temporary you must make sure there is room for growth and movement.  This PDF on Arbor Tie shows some uses and applications, but you can improvise too.  This is great stuff and I keep a roll in my truck for all kinds of situations.

The picture below shows the upright juniper after being pruned and “arbor-tied”.  Notice how selective pruning maintains the natural character of the plant.

If you use a calendar program like in Microsoft Outlook, or some other scheduling system, set a date to check the arbor ties (e.g. once/year). Don’t forget about them.  They must be monitored and eventually removed.

The Benefits of Rescuing Plants Poorly Maintained

You have to use your judgement here because sometimes it just doesn’t pay to put in the time and effort. In this particular case the task took me 20 minutes; with a good outcome – well worth it. Once again you have to compare the cost of repair (and the expected results) with replacing the plant.

Also, we all like to see a plant saved if possible and there can be real value there for the ecologically-minded homeowner.  Many customers will really appreciate the effort and professionalism.

It’s not unusual for a homeowner to hire an independent contractor to do the pruning. Meanwhile, their regular maintenance contractor not only misses out on the work, but loses some credibility.

Clearly proper pruning is a skill-set that customers are looking for and have trouble finding. The few companies I know that prune correctly have waiting lists.

When To Prune Viburnum juddi

When to prune depends on if the flowers and fruit are formed on last season’s wood or on the new growth of this season.

Viburnum juddii flowers on last season’s wood so you would prune soon after flowering.  This way the plant can then set flower buds for next season without the danger of them being cut off  later on.

Most viburnum types fall into this “flower on old wood” category.  But it’s worth looking up because a customer that’s been waiting for flowers could get upset if the buds are pruned off.

Pruning Method

The proper way to prune most viburnum is “selectively” with a hand pruner. This lets you make strategic cuts at the appropriate points on the branch.Many landscape companies resort to shearing plants mainly because it is the fastest way.  But in some cases they simply don’t know any better.

The problem is shearing these plants destroys them.  Shearing makes random cuts anywhere on the stems.  This causes contorted and concentrated branching where the sheared cuts were made.  I call this “rat’s nest” because of the way it makes the plant look.

Selective Pruning, Not The Fastest But…

In the “Before” picture you can see the natural form of the plant is basically mounded.  I say mounded rather than rounded because the sides of the plant should grow wider towards the base. And if you’re unsure of the “natural” form of the plant, look it up.  It’s important to know how the plant should look so you can prune it accordingly.

You can also see the “apical ” or “dominant” growth shooting out beyond the mounded natural shape.  Don’t worry about the technical terms – all they mean is the growth at the far ends of branches wants to get longer (i.e. dominate).

Selectively cut back these dominant, long stems where their leaves emerge and side branches join.  Now you’re controlling the plant’s growth and at the same time shaping the plant into a more compact, mounded form.

In the end you have a plant that’s kept healthy and in its beautiful natural form.

It’s never a good thing when plants are growing into the foundation.  Of course this goes back to the initial plant selection, arrangement and spacing. In some cases it makes more sense to transplant the shrub. And your client will appreciate the suggestion and solution.

As best you can try and keep 12″ of space between the building and plant.  In the picture to the left I’ve made several strong cuts to older stems to get the back of this plant away from the house.

It’s natural to just think about making your cuts in the areas where you want the shape of the plant to be.  But one of the advantages of selective pruning is that you can observe the branching of the plant and make that “strategic” cut wherever it serves the plant best.

If you look at the picture above with the hand pruner, notice the thickness of the branch I’m cutting.  That’s 2 year old growth.  I followed the “dominant” leader at the top down into the body of the plant.  I found where it connected to another main stem and made the cut there.

These types of strategic cuts on older wood  help shape the outline of the plant. But equally important is that they minimize the thick heavy stems that can collect at the outline of the plant. Ideally you want younger, softer growth at the ends.

This type of pruning takes time, especially compared to shearing, but the results are well worth it. I find that when I explain the value in proper pruning to my clients they are agreeable to the extra time and expense.

Gold Coast Juniper Before Pruning

This Gold Coast Juniper is planted a bit close to the walkway, but for a reason.  The walkway traverses along the precipice of a steep slope.  There isn’t much room near the path to plant and we wanted a dense planting to discourage people from going near the slope’s drop-off.

Gold Coast Juniper is a compact, spreading plant, and unlike many of the other junipers it has softer foliage.   With a mature height of around 18 to 24″, it should serve well as buffer/barrier to the slope.

Some Planting Design Needs Gentle Persuasion

You know I always talk about selecting plants to suit the situation.  Always consider their characteristics (i.e. size potential, growth habit, exposure, etc.) and the design intent.  Sometimes the “fit” is not perfect and you must gently persuade the plant to work in that space.

The use of Gold Coast Juniper along this walkway is an example of this.  The juniper lends itself to fairly aggressive pruning and therefore, can be persuaded each season to stay within the space.

Selective Pruning

I don’t recommend you create too many circumstances like this because it puts an extra burden on the maintenance aspect.

If the plant care is under your supervision it’s usually not a problem.  If there’s another company involved there is the possibility that the pruning will be done incorrectly or neglected entirely.

So What’s The Best Way To Prune Gold Coast Juniper?

There is only one right answer to this question…prune selectively.

In the first picture at the top I’ve indicated points where selective cuts should be made.  The second picture shows a bypass hand pruner making one of those cuts.

Here are some of the things we wish to accomplish by selectively pruning these Gold Coast Juniper:

• Contain the plant within the allowable space.
• Encourage the plant to grow full and compact.
• Extend the life and usefulness of this plant in this “less than ideal” circumstance.

This type of pruning program should be started soon after planting.  This early start gives it the structure it will need to work in this space for many years to come.

Gold Coast Juniper After Pruning

There are some interesting uses of plants out there because of pruning tactics.  If you have one let’s hear about it.  Use the comments box below.

The soaker hose provided one method to efficiently water plants by concentrating water over the root system.  This is essentially what drip irrigation does.

Drip irrigation is typically installed on the surface or slightly below.  The water is delivered by pipe and/or tubing and then dispersed through various types of emitters.  Often, drip irrigation zones are part of automatic systems with programmable controllers.

The basic, store-bought soaker hose we talked about in the last article can be installed as a simple and inexpensive drip-system.

The following pictures will help you visualize the process.  Click on any of them to get a larger version.

Picture 3

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 1 shows a group of “Emerald Green” Arborvitae that were recently installed.  The sandy soil and nearby maple tree has made it difficult to keep these new plants moist.  A basic soaker hose will do a great job of watering very efficiently.  Here’s how it’s done.

In picture 2 the mulch has been pulled back a comfortable distance of 2′ or so from the plants using a steel garden rake.  The soaker hose will be installed on top of the bare soil directly over the root balls.

This particular soaker hose is 50′ long with a threaded coupling at each end (1 male, 1 female).  This allows you to connect them for longer lengths if needed, but stay below 100′ for good operation.

For the 3 arborvitae the 50′ length is plenty.  In picture 3 the hose is measured and divided into 3 equal lengths…one section per plant.  Tape is used to mark the 2 points on the hose length to distinguish the 3 sections.  Now you have visual indicators for how much hose you can dedicate to each plant.

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Start with the plant furthest from the water faucet.  Take the end of the soaker hose with the “male” threaded end and stake it to the ground just under the plant using a sod staple.  (This male end should have a cap on it.)  You’re really pushing the sod staple into the top of the root ball.

Now, as seen in picture 4, begin to circle the first plant with the soaker hose.  Be conscious of the tape marking the first of the 3 sections.  Remember, you want to dedicate a section per plant.  2 to 3 turns around each plant seemed to work well.  Stay relatively close to the plant to ensure you’re right over the root  ball.

Picture 5 shows the sod staples holding down the hose.  Use your judgement with where you position them.  Wherever the hose  is loose and won’t stay in position, that’s where you need a staple.

If you’ve divided the hose evenly between the 3 plants, the last one will have a few turns around it before you come to the end with the female coupling (picture 6).  Double check to make sure you have enough staples securing the soaker hose down.

Picture 7

Go ahead and connect a garden hose to the coupling so you can turn the water on and test the soaker hose.  Many come with a disc-like washer with a small (1/8″) hole in the center.  This is designed to reduce the house water pressure so the soaker hose operates correctly.

I find these disc washer pressure reducers (that’s a mouthful) annoying and prefer to remove them.  You could purchase a pressure regulator that attaches to the faucet, but if you just turn the faucet on a quarter to one-half turn, that works fine too.

You want the water to “sweat” from the hose’s pores something like in picture 7.  Adjust the faucet until you see it “sweating” adequately.

With the soaker hose secured to the ground and tested, you can now replace the mulch around the plants.

The mulch hides the hose and insulates the ground so it stays moist longer.  If you need to test and see how the hose is performing, it’s easy to expose.

How much and how long to water?

The answer to this question is always “it depends”.  There are numerous variables such as soil type, size of plant, time of year, etc. that will determine the watering amount and schedule.  And, of course, the schedule will change with time.

These arborvitae were initially watered every other day for one hour each time.  Arborvitae, by their nature, prefer moist conditions.  The sandy soil and root competition from the maple tree also influenced a “generous” watering schedule to start.

After 10 days or so we changed the schedule to once every 3rd day.  That’s where we’re at now and I’ll continue with that until this heat spell breaks.

Testing the soil moisture below ground is and always will be the best indicator for a plant’s water needs.  I use a moisture meter all the time because it’s critical for me to know what’s going on down there.

Most people don’t have a moisture meter, so try pushing a metal rod or long screwdriver into the ground near the plant.  When you pull the rod out look to see if the metal is moist or there’s moist soil on it – that’s a good sign.  If the rod is wet and muddy, the soil is probably too wet. If the rod comes out dry, increase the watering amount and/or schedule.  At the very least, pull the mulch back near the plant and check the soil beneath.  See if it looks and feels moist.

Watering and irrigation is a huge topic and I’ll continue to present aspects that should be considered for healthy plants.

What experiences have you had with keeping plants properly watered?  Have you lost plants from over-watering?

Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’ and ‘Emerald Gold’ are 2 very common shrubs.  In many ways the two are similar in form.  You’ll often see both used as a low, mounded shrub either at the front of a garden or as an area groundcover.

Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’ has the distinct capability to climb when planted next to a structure.

In this first picture is ‘Emerald Gaiety’ and further down the stone wall   is ‘Emerald Gold’.

The loose, straggley growth on top is typical and perhaps in a larger open space this “wildness” would be OK.  For example, used on a slope as a groundcover this “rambling” habit would be great.

However, in other gardens  you may want to prune for a neater look.  In this situation the Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’ is overpowering the azalea behind it.  Let’s bring it back to scale, but keep that natural form.

How To Prune

As always, the best method of pruning any plant to maintain a “natural” appearance is to prune “selectively” – that is, by hand, single cuts with hand pruners.

Some of you are probably saying, “Are you kidding, I have too many to prune selectively”.  I hear you.  There’s a point of practicality where you have to make a judgement call.  In this case it’s not the end of the world if you shear the plants to make a monstrous task more doable.

These next 2 pictures show selective pruning on the Euonymus ‘Emerald Gold’.  I pruned the ‘Emerald Gaiety’ the same way.

Select the longest growth that extends beyond the main body of the plant and follow it down into the plant.  There, among the denser growth make your cut just above a leaf or lateral branch.

This last picture shows the Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’ after it was pruned selectively. Notice how the “natural” form was maintained, but the plant is neater and more in scale with the azalea behind it.

To Shear or Not To Shear

With Boxwood most people instinctively shear the plant.  The vision most of us have is one of perfectly shaped forms.  It definitely is at the top of the list when it comes to formal gardens and topiary.

I’d like to suggest two circumstances when “selective” pruning might be the alternative to shearing.

1. when boxwood is used in “natural, informal gardens”.
2. when boxwood starts to decline because of too dense branching at the outer ends of the main stems.

Boxwood used in natural, informal gardens.

It’s such a reliable, solid performer; I often use boxwood in natural settings.  In these gardens the boxwood are pruned selectively by hand to encourage the plant to stay full and strong while keeping a soft, mounded shape.

Dense, outer growth causes decline.

Overtime a constantly sheared (and formal) boxwood can start to decline in health.  This could be because of a number of conditions, e.g. poor internal air circulation that could promote disease or insect infestation.  The fact is plants naturally are not conditioned to have all their foliage concentrated just on the outer portion of the branches.

To improve or maintain the health of a sheared plant, you can selectively prune out a portion of the dense, outer growth.  If done right this will allow more light and air into the interior without causing a dramatic change in the look of the plant.

Topiary Boxwood

I’d like to focus on shearing because this is by far the most common way people prune boxwood.

These first 2 pictures show the before and after of a Boxwood ‘Wintergem’ that was sheared.

This is a recently planted boxwood that was sized at 24 – 30″.   At this young stage you have the perfect opportunity to set the proper shape for the future of this plant.  Although you can often correct misshaped plants, it’s not easy and usually takes 2 to 3 seasons of growth to see improvement.

The fundamental rule in shaping a plant is wider at the base and taper towards the top.  There are 2 main reasons for this:

1. It’s healthier for the plant because light is better distributed to the foliage.
2. Aesthetically it’s more attractive and logical that the plant be wider at the base.  You want the plant to appear as though it’s connected and well-anchored to the ground.

In the sketch below I give a couple of typical shapes you would shear plants both the “right” and “wrong” way.

It is not easy to develop these proper shapes with wider bases.  Plants naturally grow a little weaker and thinner towards the bottom.  Also, it’s been my experience that most people want to cut an equal amount off the plant all over.  That doesn’t work!

If you look at the first picture of the unsheared boxwood, notice how the greater amount of growth is concentrated towards the top.  The bottom and lower sides naturally have less growth.  Now look at the plant sheared in the 2nd picture.  The lower portion of the plant was not touched by the shears.

I still happen to use a pair of hand shears for trimming topiary plants.

You should develop a system or pattern to how you shear a plant, get good at it, and then repeat that pattern from plant to plant.

I shear plants in a clock-wise direction.  I imagine the proper line the shrub should have and follow it.  Regardless of how much or how little foliage there is, stay on that imaginary line. If you need a little help and guidance, for the straight lines take a length of wood like a 1 X 2″ (or anything like that).  If you just hold it up once in a while to show the line you’re trying to create, it can really help guide you.

You more often see power hedge trimmers today for shearing topiary plants.  They are powerful and quick.  If kept sharp and in skilled hands they can do some nice work very productively. In unskilled hands…I’d rather not talk about it.

When to shear plants.

Generally it’s best to let the new growth finish and “harden off” a bit before shearing.  From a practical sense the plant should not grow much (if at all) after that and the shape should stay nice until the following growth season.

If you happen to trim early, occasionally I have seen new, soft growth scorch a bit if the weather got hot right after the shearing.

On some properties plants might be sheared twice because the owner does not want to wait for the growth stage to completely finish.  So it’s done perhaps midway during growth and then again when it’s finally finished.

These are the main considerations when pruning boxwood and many of these points apply to other plants as well.  However, it’s so important you consider each plant and their “specific” preferences and requirements.  Like so many things, the skill starts with the right knowledge.

Just what are reverted shoots?

Many of the unusual cultivars of plants you see came from the original, normal plant.  What happens is a mutation occurs in the normal plant causing an unusual (and sometimes desirable) variation of growth.  For example, the shape of the mutated growth might be compacted or miniature compared to the normal plant.

If the growth and/or color traits of the mutated shoot are desirable, then more plants can potentially be created from this shoot.  This is done by “vegetative” propagation.  In other words cuttings are taken from the unusual shoot and rooted to make young plants.

Over time a shoot of growth may appear on this new “cultivar” that has the plain foliage from the original normal plant.  This is a “reverted shoot”.

What to do with them.

Whenever you come across a reverted shoot on a variegated or unusual foliage plant, it should be removed.  Not only do they look out of place on the unusual cultivar, but they will start to dominate the plant.

As you see in the picture below, prune the reverted shoot right at the point of origin.

One of the most common examples of branch reversion is with Alberta Spruce and perhaps you’ve seen it too.  This compact plant is derived from the standard White Spruce.  A reverted shoot on Alberta Spruce is not hard to identify.

Why Would Plant Position Be So Important?

More often then not plant position is critical, especially on the residential property.

• space limitations alone demand positioning plants accurately.
• positioning plants is particularly important near buildings, pools, patios, walkways and other structures.
• positioning is #1 when screening for privacy or to block a view.
• spacing and alignment for hedging and other “deliberate patterns” must be spot-on to look right.

How To Preserve and Insure Plant Position

A standard plant installation job with small to medium sized plants is typically set-up so that the new plants are arranged and sitting right where they’re going.  In this situation it’s normal to just mark the spot for the hole by outlining the container or root-ball with the shovel.

However, sometimes as we mentioned in our bullet-points above, it’s necessary to get that plant in the ground exactly where it is intended.

Very often we’ll refer to the “center” of the plant when talking about spacing and positioning.  The reference and use of “center” eliminates any confusion for an installer regardless of  the width or shape of a plant.

In the picture above the new plants are arranged as a border screen.  Each plant’s position has been adjusted.  It’s important to insure this exact position through the planting phase.

To do this I use granular limestone to mark the centers of each plant with “cross-hairs”.  (You could also use marking paint.) I extend the lines a good distance so that portions of the lines remain visible while the holes are being dug.

No matter how crazy the hole-digging gets due to roots, rocks and other underground surprises, the center of the hole can always be referenced with the “cross-hairs”.

Finally, when it comes time to set the plant in the hole, once again the “cross-hairs” give us the center of the plant’s intended location.

I’ve used this simple method of marking plant locations in other circumstances where it was just too impractical to set the new plant(s) up first.  Or, the new plant was on its way to the jobsite and we wanted to get the hole dug before it arrived.

How do you handle plant positioning for installation?  Let us know in the comments.

Pruning Time For Flowering Plants Is Important

Homeowners will often select a plant because of the exceptional bloom it has.  They’ll look forward to it all year.  But Mrs. Gotrocks is really bummed this spring.  Her azalea has hardly bloomed at all.

Hmmm.  Plant looks nice and healthy.  Good color in the leaves, and it does get fed each year.

Fact: A plant will not flower without a “flower bud”.

This plant is just fine – it couldn’t be healthier.  Problem: Its flowering cycle is being interrupted.

In the spring the azalea should flower following its normal schedule.  Soon after flowering it begins to produce the flower buds for next year’s bloom. What’s happening here is the azalea is being pruned too late in the season and the flower buds for next year are being cut off in the process.

Azaleas, like other flowering plants, have a “cycle” they follow through the year.  It’s important to know this cycle and when the plant develops flower buds, before you prune.

When You Prune Is As Important As How You Prune

Being aware of the different plants on your property and knowing their cycle is great information to have.  You can then note the plants that will need pruning and schedule it at the right time.

These azaleas (see pic above) are well spaced and have room to grow.  That’s a plus right from the start.  I would not be anxious to prune these plants, but rather let them grow naturally.  Their beauty lies in their natural form.  Also, they’ll flower beautifully each year with their flower buds intact.

Azalea incorrectly pruned by shearing.

What if the azalea needs to be pruned?

You can preserve the “natural” look of the azalea by selectively pruning the faster growing, dominant branches.  Make these individual cuts with a hand pruner just above leaves and/or junction points where branches connect.

Time this pruning soon after the azalea has finished blooming.  This way the plant can then go about producing its flower buds for next year without having them cut off later in the season.

The last picture here shows an azalea close-up that was sheared rather than selectively pruned.  You can see both leaves and stems cut randomly by the general path of the shear.  Not only is this unhealthy for the plant, but it also looks like %$&@.

Isn’t it amazing how different plants can be from one another?  We really need to know and understand these differences because in the finished landscape we’re trying to manage what should be the natural cycles of these plants.

I’m always here to help.  If you have a question or comment feel free to enter it below.