Re: Pruning information on- line

Pamela,
Pruning of mediterannean/Dry Garden plants is not
really any different from general pruning.  One needs
to know what your objectives are, and most important
is choosing the right location for plantings based on
their ultimate size, and not trying to keep plants
confined to too small an area for their best health
and appearance.  Season for pruning is also often
based on bloom season, and it pays to know whether you
should or can prune in advance of blooming without
losing flowers, or need to wait until after.

I would suggest that you will have a much better idea
of how to treat plants in your own garden if you are
more attentive to how they are used in the wider
landscape around you. It can be very useful to look
carefully at older landscapes to get an idea of how to
use plants to their best appearance.  Look carefully
to see how large plants will ultimately get, and
whether they lend themselves to being more crowded for
achieving a quicker effect, or not.

It is also useful to know what plants in your area are
prone to diseases and insect attacks if pruned at the
wrong time of year.  This level of information is best
gotten from local sources such as your county
agricultural extension agent,(here in the USA), or
equivalent, or local retail nursery if they have
qualified staff. It also doesn't nurt to join a local
horticultural society or become a member of your
closest botanic garden, to avail yourself of the
resources available locally.

Trees such as pines are more prone to getting diseases
at the wrong time of the year here in California, and
of course with tender subtropicals, you don't want to
prune plants to encourage soft new growth when they
should be hardening off to resist winter frost damage.

With many mediterannean plants that are intended to
establish themselves on natural rainfall alone, there
should not be the need to do alot of pruning, as they
won't have been encouraged to grow through the summer
with soft new growth.  Pruning would mostly be needed
only to neaten up appearances, rather than to maintain
size.

You might be able to get more specific and useful
advice if you actually posted questions about the
particular plants you have questions about, and to
keep in mind that there is no one right approach to
pruning, as it depends greatly on the intended effects
desired, and your local conditions.

--- Pamela Steele <pamela@peppercornsfoodservice.com>
wrote:

> As there doesn't seem to be a book on how and when
> to prune Mediterranean
> and Dry Garden Plants, I was wondering if anyone
> knows a good site on line
> to which I could refer.  There is alot of info on
> line about these plants
> regarding watering, soil conditions, climate
> conditions etc but information
> when and how to prune certain plants doesn't seem to
> be readily available.
> Thank you
> Pamela
>
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index