"Spider" wrote in message
...
On 31/08/2014 00:05, Ophelia wrote:


"Spider" wrote in message

Cotoneaster.

Gosh thanks! It is just string but I will take it all off immediately
and keep a good eye on my dog!

Just to assure you, I took it off immediately I had stopped posting



Good. I've seen some perfectly good trees wrecked by that kind of
restriction. You may find it worth while to check all your tree and shrub
ties, to make sure they're not biting in. I check mine a couple of times
a year and even nudge my neighbours if I see a biting tree tie. It's
usually well received.

The only things I tie up are my climbers. Roses, clematis, honeysuckle and
a broad leaf ivy. I can't remember its name
But I will check!

cotoneaster.

Yes! I looked it up. Mine is Horizontalis!


Right. Just as well I mentioned it then! It's a lovely plant, whether
grown horizontally or vertically and, although deciduous, I love both the
autumn colour and the winter framework. Just make sure that when you
prune it, you are sympathetic to that herringbone framework.
I haven't asked if you have a grasp of formative pruning?

No Not only do I not have a grasp, I've never heard of it. I am hoping
the book (when it arrives) will explain that?


It's a posh
name for pruning to (below) the bud you want the next growth to sprout
from.

Right! I do that with other stuff I have cut back. Heh I know how to do
it, I just don't know the name of it)


You probably already do it with your roses, but you need to
understand it to shape your trees and shrubs properly.

Right! My roses are climbers and I am leaving them to do their thing along
with some other climbers, over an arch recently erected)


I tend to prune out the extension growths on my

Cotoneasters
I would suggest leaving it until November/December, if you can, as it
will
be more dormant then and less likely to throw out new soft growth which
would be damaged by frost.

Thank you. It is now marked in my calendar. I am hoping to stay up here
until at least next year if not longer. I am hoping I can get my trees
sorted before I have to go back down.


*Plum Tree:

It gives a silvery metallic appearance to the leaf, not surprisingly!
Sorry, that's not sarcasm, but once again I can't send you a link to an
image, which is very frustrating. I will try again later when Google's
bucked its ideas up. If you do find you have Silver Leaf, you will need
to cut out all infected growth, then burn the prunings and disinfect the
tools used. At last! I've got a link. Hope it works for you:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=245

Yes, it did, thank you! My plum tree has rather holey leaves but no
silvery
sheen. More by luck than good judgement I suspect


:~))! Just as well you're lucky, then. No-one would deliberately harm a
tree they'd planted, but tree care is quite a steep learning curve; lots
to remember. Don't worry about your holey leaves. They're going to fall
very soon anyway. If they look diseased when you then inspect them, bin
them rather than leave them or compost them.

I will!


Sorry, I've obviously not explained it very well *and* I can't send you
a
link. I'll try and improvise: |/......

Hope you can follow this: the perpendicular line | is the trunk,
the symbol is the collar,
the slash / is your cut and the dotted line ..... is the branch you are
removing. After pruning, you should be left with: |
It may be necessary sometimes to remove a tiny bit of the collar to get
a
clean cut, but there should always be enough left to heal over. I hope
this has helped a bit.
Now, thankfully, you can see the link:
http://treecarepruningandplanting.com/branch-collar.htm

Thank you, yes Btw your improvisation worked very well and I have
saved
that site for reference


Hope I've explained that well enough. Anyway, you need to cleanly cut
away the stubs and half branches. Also take out any dead, dying or
damaged wood. Having done this, clean your secateurs/loppers so that
you do not introduce disease to new cuts. Just as with an apple tree,
the plum should not have any inward-growing branches which will stifle
air movement, or branches that cross each other and cause - or may
cause - chafing, so you will need to cut these out.

Right! Looking at it atm, if I cut out all the cross branches, it
might
not leave much else. Is it ok to leave it fairly denuded? Will it
grow
to fill in the gaps?


Mmmm... you might need to leave some of the less congested cross-growth
which looks healthy, and take it out another time when you see how the
tree responds to this year's work. The important thing is that there is
no chafing and that the tree is as clean of disease as possible.
Since it's not been pruned for some time, I suppose you could even leave
it until next April-ish and prune it in really good weather.

I can do that, yes, but if we do get more good weather within the next
few
weeks, would be ok to do it then? Would that give it a better start for
next year or would it not make much difference? Perhaps next April I
could
take out the rest?



It would certainly be advisable to remove any of the dodgy stubs and torn
pruning cuts so that they're flush with the collar and can heal properly.
As they are now, the 'die back' those cuts have
caused could continue to die back into and past the collar area and into
the trunk, which is not desirable.

Oh! Noted!!!


That's your essential work for this year's patch of good weather. Truly,
unless you've got a very long branch that might snap in the gales, you
might just as well wait till next April and that brilliant weather ;~).
Trees tend not to do anything very quickly (not even jumping out in front
of motorists), so a few dormant months really won't make that much
difference.

eg especially not jumping on front of motorists ))

Very well I will wait until April )



Apples.

I don't have many apples and some are really nice. A few others look
'scabby' is that what you mean?



Well, 'scabby' has a couple of connotations. It could just be that the
skin appears slightly less than perfect but is perfectly healthy or it
could mean your tree has Apple Scab:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=81
Good, it seems I can send link now.

Ok, I looked up pics of 'apple canker' and 'apple scab'. Judging by the
pics, mine have something that looks similar (but not excessively so)
and no
evidence on the branches. The apples inside are clean and tasty.

Is there any advice you can give me to counteract that?



Yes, (in fact, it's probably on that Apple Scab link). You need Bayer's
Garden Systhane Fungus Fighter, the active ingredient of which is
Myclobutanil. There may be other brands on the garden centre shelves,
allowing you to compare prices. You also need to know that Apple Scab can
infect Cotoneaster, among others

Noted thank you! Can I get that any any garden centre?


Oooh, just had a thought! Do you know the varietal name of your
apple? It may tell us whether it's tip or spur bearing ... which has a
bearing on the pruning;~).

Yes, it is a James Grieve. I always remember that because when I
planted it, someone asked me what type of apple it is. When I told him
he asked me why I called my tree, James. g

Great! That helps a lot. It is spur bearing, which is much easier to
prune. Whilst you can't exactly prune willy nilly, you can prune
relatively freely without cutting out fruiting wood each year.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/74563/...ve-(D)/Details


Please don't concern yourself too much nor feel you must respond *only*
to me! I am more than happy to wait until you have to time and I am
sure there is a lot more posts that will take your interest.

You are most kind and I am very grateful

Right, I think I've covered your questions from last time, but do come
back if there's something you still don't understand. It does take a
while for it all to sink in.

I am rereading your posts (which are all saved) and have also saved all
the
websites you have advised, so I have plenty to keep me out of mischief
g


I'm just going to briefly mention your Holly while it's on my mind,
then I
shall do some gardening. I need the fresh air.

The pale shoots on the trunk of your holly (or anywhere else they occur)
should be pruned out.

Gosh! That is a surprise I thought they were just evidence of extra
feeding g Sheesh I have a lot to learn)


Well, once you've learned, you can cautiously learn to break the rules
sometimes. In this case, if you like the appearance of those shoots and
you feel your holly is thriving, then you could choose to leave them. Both
myself and my father admired them on our hollies. My father even wondered
about propagating from them, but I've never known them 'take'. They just
can't produce enough food to live independantly.

Right, thank you I do like them))



They're not really doing any harm, but they
probably have little or no chlorophyll, so are not contributing to the
tree, but are using its resources. As ever, dead, dying and diseased
material should be removed (and tools disinfected). Otherwise, it is
really a case of shaping it, if needed, to a fairly natural, balanced
and
pleasing shape. Pruning should take place from mid to late summer
before
the wood becomes completely hardened. Earlier pruning can result in new
shoots which make the shape uneven again.

Thank you! The tree itself spreads and is rather wild which I like. It
is
not taking space I would otherwise want to use and looks very
pleasing Do
you think I should prune it anyway, for the sake of its health?


If it's just how you like it and it's healthy, it doesn't need pruning.
Job saved.

Excellent))



When I come back, I'll try and get your pics again, just in case I've
missed something obvious.

Thank you, you are most kind.


I'm not at all bothered about concentrating on this, Ophelia, so don't
worry. When I need a break or must do a task, I'll use my common sense
and pause a while.

I am very pleased to hear that.

I do have a lot of migraine troubles, so I do take
frequent breaks from the screen, which is my only bug bear.

Oh I am so sorry. I am most content to wait until you are able or feel
you want to help. I feel very blessed that you want to

I could talk
about gardening all day if my brain didn't hurt and, in truth, it's so
nice to help someone as eager to learn as you and so generous with
feedback. I know when you've understood something, which helps me move
forward. Thank you.

Oh! I can't begin to tell you what your help means to me

Thank you so much. Be well soon.

Ophelia



Having dealt with that, I shall have a break and work in the garden for a
couple of hours. Later, I will try those pics again.

Thank you


Yikes! Most important! Before you remove any significant branches off
anything, you will need to know about 'undercutting'. This is the
technique that stops bark tearing on the underside of the branch as you
finish your cut. I'll cover that next time. Ta ra for now.

Oh heck! You don't feel like a holiday in Scotland by any chance ???? ;-)

I hope you are feeling better now. I will await your next foray into my err
busy garden))

Lucky O




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