WITH THE SEVEN reasons to prune last week, you should be ready to start pruning. With this in mind, let us take some time to explain dormant oil spray and then explain the two types of cuts in pruning (yes, there are only two).
But first, just to let you know I practice what I preach, let me share my past week’s work list, which included spreading and raking in grass seed, pruning specialty trees, transplanting or moving a couple of trees — and, of course, spreading mulch and applying fertilizer. All in a week’s work when it is a week on the North Olympic Peninsula during January!
So my first message of this column is to plant, plant, plant, prune, prune and then prune some more. Do not forget to fertilize and mulch as well.
Now, during groundhog month and into the early part of March, the window of opportunity for dormant oil sprays or neem oil application is here.
If you own any fruit or nut trees, along with flowering crab apples, ornamental pears, flowering dogwoods and quinces, then dormant oil sprays are the required preventive treatment for destroying many overwintering pests.
Dormant oil sprays and/or neem oil sprays effectively kill many insects by smothering them. These treatments are great because even though it indiscriminately kills all bugs, the good bugs are not yet present on these trees.
Dormant oil spray must be applied before the leaves or flowers show themselves and when temperatures are in the 40s or above with no rain for 24 hours.
Minimally, two and ideally three applications through a backpack sprayer are preferred in 10- to 14-day intervals.
Please give dormant oil sprays a try, for they are a mainstay in the horticultural world. And so is pruning a mainstay of all gardening, and you have been armed with seven reasons to prune.
In all of the required circumstances to prune, only two types of pruning cuts exist, believe it or not!
Heading and thinning cuts — that’s it. That’s all there is. But each has its exact reason and purpose and needs to be applied accordingly.
• Heading cuts. These are cuts that sever a branch, stem, cane, vine lateral or trunk somewhere between the place of origin and the tip of that plant part. Heading cuts produce new and abundant growth at and below the cut.
The majority of growth will occur at the very first node and will protrude outward at the direction that node is pointing.
A node is a place where a new growth can occur, always marked by a line, distinct mark or protruding bump along a branch, stem, cane trunk or lateral.
But remember, growth will be encouraged at the last node in the direction of that node, which is why plants grow back faster into the window, driveway or facing you after a pruning.
The trick is to prune at a node facing the direction you wish to plant to grow. This is the essence of shape pruning.
• Thinning cut. These cuts do exactly what they say: Thin out plants, with no new growth (at the point of the prune.)
So, if you have done a thinning cut, it completely removes that plant piece and stops it from growing back.
You should do thinning cuts to all branches facing back toward the house, up into the window or down into your face when riding or pushing the lawn mower.
• Accelerated growth. Most homeowners, and unfortunately many landscape companies, heavily prune with heading cuts, which produce more growth — and accelerated growth at that.
I just pruned trees with two or three times more thinning cuts than heading cuts. That is the norm.
So sharpen your pruners, oil your loppers and buy an orchard saw because now is an excellent time to prune. And, do stay well all!
________
Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
