Now that I've raked a good part of my front yard and am suffering for it...
(Oooh, my sides!... Can't justify the lawn vac right now...), I thought I
would do something a little less active. Pruning.

We have these plants bordering the edge of our rear patio that have become
very top heavy. They have green leaves at the top and is bare and dead
looking at the bottom.

For a healthier looking shrub next year with more lower leaf coverage, how
far should I be cutting this back? My instincts tell me, pretty far. I know
this will mean a lot smaller bushes, but I would rather that than have dead
looking ones.

Close up of the plant;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners3.jpg

Row of the same;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners2.jpg

Should I be hacking these babies right back?
Also, can anyone identify these plants for me please?
And is this an okay time to be doing this in moderate S. Texas?
TIA.
--
Lynda the amateur

"Lynda LeCompte" wrote in message
news
Now that I've raked a good part of my front yard and am suffering for
it...
(Oooh, my sides!... Can't justify the lawn vac right now...), I thought I
would do something a little less active. Pruning.

We have these plants bordering the edge of our rear patio that have become
very top heavy. They have green leaves at the top and is bare and dead
looking at the bottom.

For a healthier looking shrub next year with more lower leaf coverage, how
far should I be cutting this back? My instincts tell me, pretty far. I
know
this will mean a lot smaller bushes, but I would rather that than have
dead
looking ones.

Close up of the plant;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners3.jpg

Row of the same;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners2.jpg

Should I be hacking these babies right back?
Also, can anyone identify these plants for me please?
And is this an okay time to be doing this in moderate S. Texas?
TIA.
--

Not all shrubs will respond well to hard pruning, specially those which have
been allowed to get out of control. You may get just a collection of dead
looking sticks which never regenerate much, if any, green.

You may be in luck. Although it is difficult to tell precisely from the pics
(specially for my poor old eyes), your shrubs look like a form of privet -
perhaps common or Chinese privet - and privet DOES respond to hard pruning.
Generally it is recommended on flowering shrubs like this to prune after
bloom, however privet flowers are no big deal. Winter pruning should be
fine.

Again, it is hard to tell from the pics, but these shrubs look like they
might be in a fair amount of shade, which could account for their scruffy
form and leggy appearance. And since privet is not considered a very
desireable plant and one not ideally suited to shade, you might want to
consider replanting with something better for this situation and and with a
more suitable height. I'm sure one of the other Texas posters could make
suggestions.

pam - gardengal

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 15:48:23 GMT, Pam - gardengal
wrote:
snipped here and there
You may be in luck. Although it is difficult to tell precisely from the
pics
(specially for my poor old eyes), your shrubs look like a form of privet -
perhaps common or Chinese privet - and privet DOES respond to hard
pruning.

Aha. Yes, it does remind me of an unwieldy privet hedge I ended up removing
altogether in England. However, the leaves on these shrubs here are smaller
and have a serated edge. The pictures weren't very good - it was dusk the
other evening when I took them.

Generally it is recommended on flowering shrubs like this to prune after
bloom, however privet flowers are no big deal. Winter pruning should be
fine.

Great. This should give me a certain amount of pleasure...

Again, it is hard to tell from the pics, but these shrubs look like they
might be in a fair amount of shade, which could account for their scruffy
form and leggy appearance. And since privet is not considered a very
desireable plant and one not ideally suited to shade, you might want to
consider replanting with something better for this situation and and with
a
more suitable height. I'm sure one of the other Texas posters could make
suggestions.

Okey dokey. You're right that they are in a bit of shade - they actually
face east but there are a couple of large trees in the way. I think I'll
take my chances and hack them back, see what happens in the spring and
replace if necessary. I'm not a privet lover anyway and would appreciate
any suggestions for a good bordering plant that can survive a small amount
of shade. I would prefer a little height but that's not essential. I have
these things bordering everywhere else right now...
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/borders.JPG and am a bit sick of the
sight of them :-/ Erm... again, identification would be appreciated... I
didn't see these in England either!

Thanks for the advice Pam.
And thanks for the patience of others with my ignorance on native plants in
these parts!
--
Lynda

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 16:17:38 GMT, Lynda LeCompte
wrote:
snipped
I'm not a privet lover anyway and would appreciate any suggestions for a
good bordering plant that can survive a small amount of shade.

Scratch that.
Have just looked at Paghat's website and found all I needed to know :-)

Excellent, excellent site Paghat the ratgirl!
--
Lynda

Doesn't look like a privet to me ... it looks more like mountain laural to
me (I actually really like the branch structure but it doesn't work next to
the walk. Have you considered transplanting them and letting them keep
their nature look). I really like the tree behind them in the second
picture... Do you know what it is? DK

"Lynda LeCompte" wrote in message
news
Now that I've raked a good part of my front yard and am suffering for
it...
(Oooh, my sides!... Can't justify the lawn vac right now...), I thought I
would do something a little less active. Pruning.

We have these plants bordering the edge of our rear patio that have become
very top heavy. They have green leaves at the top and is bare and dead
looking at the bottom.

For a healthier looking shrub next year with more lower leaf coverage, how
far should I be cutting this back? My instincts tell me, pretty far. I
know
this will mean a lot smaller bushes, but I would rather that than have
dead
looking ones.

Close up of the plant;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners3.jpg

Row of the same;
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/pruners2.jpg

Should I be hacking these babies right back?
Also, can anyone identify these plants for me please?
And is this an okay time to be doing this in moderate S. Texas?
TIA.
--
Lynda the amateur

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 16:17:38 GMT, Lynda LeCompte
wrote:

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 15:48:23 GMT, Pam - gardengal
wrote:. I have
these things bordering everywhere else right now...
http://purplelinny.com/greenery/pics/borders.JPG and am a bit sick of the
sight of them :-/ Erm... again, identification would be appreciated... I
didn't see these in England either!

Thanks for the advice Pam.
And thanks for the patience of others with my ignorance on native plants in
these parts!
--
Lynda
The border plants are Aspidistra aka cast iron plant (name should
suggest why you have so much of it).

I couldn't get much out of the other pics to add to others' ideas (but
if it has serrated margins, it is not mtn. laurel as was suggested
earlier). But the tree just behind the shrubs is almost certainly a
crape myrtle.

For a replacement idea, should it come to that, you might like yaupon
holly. fairly shade tolerant, but looks a lot like what you've
posted. you can get dwarf varieties, which you will want in this
site--the natural form would grow to 10 feet tall or more. I'm not
sure how far south you are, but I suspect the yaupon can do fine
almost anywhere in TX.

K
For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit http://www.isa-arbor.com/home.asp.
For consumer info about tree care, visit http://www.treesaregood.com/

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 20:27:18 GMT, Babberney
wrote:

The border plants are Aspidistra aka cast iron plant (name should
suggest why you have so much of it).

Aha - thank you. I did a quick search to see what I'm supposed to be doing
with these things. Looks like I can't really go wrong and I will stick some
in pots to bring inside too.

I couldn't get much out of the other pics to add to others' ideas (but
if it has serrated margins, it is not mtn. laurel as was suggested
earlier).

Right. I was going to respond to that other post, but my news feed went all
goofy until just now. Apologies to the other poster... Again, I searched
for some pics of mtn. laurel and it isn't what I have here. It's dark now,
but I will take some better pics to help with id.

The other poster suggested transplanting them, but I think I'm just going
to chop them down fairly low and see how they fair in the spring.

But the tree just behind the shrubs is almost certainly a
crape myrtle.

It most certainly is :-)
I have a few of those around - my favorites to look at.

For a replacement idea, should it come to that, you might like yaupon
holly. fairly shade tolerant, but looks a lot like what you've
posted. you can get dwarf varieties, which you will want in this
site--the natural form would grow to 10 feet tall or more. I'm not
sure how far south you are, but I suspect the yaupon can do fine
almost anywhere in TX.

I'm fairly south... near Houston. I think I have some of that yaupon holly
around already. There are several types of berry plants around my property.
I've cut some for decoration indoors as it's so pretty. I'll be glad when I
become more familiar with the plants in this lovely garden I've inherited.
Which leads me onto post another question...
/starts new post.

Thanks for the help y'all.
--
Lynda