Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In message , Kay
writes
In article , Jane Ransom
writes
In article , Kay
writes
Therefore, rather than the rule of thumb 'prune just after flowering',

Kay, this applies only to those shrubs that flower before the end of May
- not to all per se!

ie if it flowers before the end of May it is flowering on growth it made
in the last growing season therefore you want to encourage as much new
growth this year for flowers to form next year so you prune it directly
after flowering. eg ribes and weigela.

I did say it was a rule of thumb! Not all late flowering shrubs are
flowering on this year's growth.

What about philadelphus? Should be just pruning one in three when it
finishes flowering? (I seem to have got it wrong several times and ended
up with no flowers the following year :(

--
dave @ stejonda
Bring culture back to NTL.
http://www.performance-channel.com/

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In article ,
"dave @ stejonda" writes:
|
| What about philadelphus? Should be just pruning one in three when it
| finishes flowering? (I seem to have got it wrong several times and ended
| up with no flowers the following year :(

Pruning isn't essential for that. I just remove dead wood and
shoots that get out of hand. I am pretty certain that it will
not flower on completely new wood.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
"dave @ stejonda" writes:
|
| What about philadelphus? Should be just pruning one in three when it
| finishes flowering? (I seem to have got it wrong several times and ended
| up with no flowers the following year :(

Pruning isn't essential for that. I just remove dead wood and
shoots that get out of hand. I am pretty certain that it will
not flower on completely new wood.

Is pruning *essential* for anything? I can imagine that there may be
plants that are adapted to being mown down by fire, frost or grazing,
and that therefore flower quickly on new growth, but does that apply to
much of what we grow?

Otherwise, isn't pruning more to do with not letting the plant get too
big, cutting out dying growth, and bringing the flowers down to a level
where they can be seen (I'm thinking lilac here ;-) )
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In article ,
Kay writes:
|
| Is pruning *essential* for anything? I can imagine that there may be
| plants that are adapted to being mown down by fire, frost or grazing,
| and that therefore flower quickly on new growth, but does that apply to
| much of what we grow?

Yes. While it may not be essential in an absolute sense, it is
often so if you want them to fruit or flower well, show leaf colour,
maintain a particular shape, live a long time etc. It isn't JUST
that effect that is emulated by pruning.

| Otherwise, isn't pruning more to do with not letting the plant get too
| big, cutting out dying growth, and bringing the flowers down to a level
| where they can be seen (I'm thinking lilac here ;-) )

In most cases, yes.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
Kay writes:
|
| Is pruning *essential* for anything? I can imagine that there may be
| plants that are adapted to being mown down by fire, frost or grazing,
| and that therefore flower quickly on new growth, but does that apply to
| much of what we grow?

Yes. While it may not be essential in an absolute sense,

Well, it was the absolute sense I was interested in. 'What plants will
die or fail to reproduce if not pruned?'

Obviously if you particularly like the young growth (dogwood, willow,
Rosa pteracantha, eucalyptus) pruning will encourage that, but your
plant isn't going to die if you don't prune it, is it?

What plants live longer if pruned? (apart from cutting our suckers, or
removing vigorous non-variegated foliage from variegated plants)
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

Kay wrote in
:

What plants live longer if pruned? (apart from cutting our suckers, or
removing vigorous non-variegated foliage from variegated plants)

I understand that pollarded willows live considerably longer than
unpollarded ones.

What about plants that flower once then die ? Can't some of those be
perpetuated by removing the flowering spikes? Meconopsis has been
mentioned in that context recently.

Beech hedges. I'm sure I've read that the expected life of a hedging beech
is a lot longer than that of the same tree growing in a field or forest ?

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

Too late to severely cut back budlea davidii??
 

In article . 151, Victoria Clare writes:
| Kay wrote in
| :
|
| What plants live longer if pruned? (apart from cutting our suckers, or
| removing vigorous non-variegated foliage from variegated plants)
|
| I understand that pollarded willows live considerably longer than
| unpollarded ones.
|
| What about plants that flower once then die ? Can't some of those be
| perpetuated by removing the flowering spikes? Meconopsis has been
| mentioned in that context recently.
|
| Beech hedges. I'm sure I've read that the expected life of a hedging beech
| is a lot longer than that of the same tree growing in a field or forest ?

See Rackham about this. Coppicing is particularly effective, as
regrowth behaves more like a young plant than a shoot of an old
one. Not in all plants, but many woody ones.

And, yes, many monocarpic plants can be kept alive until they
flower by removing the flowering spikes. Angelica, for example.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.