15
If I get your question right, should you pinch the buds of the basil plant before they flower in order to maximize leaf production?
Answer yes. If you don't trim the buds off, then they will flower, growing up into a tall stalk on your basil plant and producing a tower of seeds. Producing seeds will become Basil plant's "Job 1", and it will neglect leaf ...
12
It won't digest live plant matter. Venus flytraps secrete the enzymes phosphatase, proteinase, nuclease and amylase. These enzymes target insect prey, which have high levels of protein. They do not digest plant matter. When a leaf closes on a bug, it (the bug) will often secrete chemicals such as uric acid, which keep the leaf closed. Otherwise (such as if ...
11
Depends on the variety of tree. If its a Prunus species, then wound paint may help to prevent silverleaf infection, but otherwise, wound paint is no longer recommended, since research shows that it does not prevent or stop any infection of the wounded area, and in some cases appears to be detrimental to the healing process.
When you prune the tree is much ...
11
Alex Shigo pioneered the research which has shown that anything that covers a pruning cut works against the natural habits trees have to wall off injury. His works (Shigo, A. L., 1982 Tree Health in the Journal of Arboriculture 8 (12) and a New Tree Biology 1986 helped to show arborists a more effective way to prune.
The basic idea is that trees seal off ...
11
Every bud can become a shoot/branch. If you don't want branches where buds appear (like on the trunk close to the ground), just rub them off. If you've waited so long that they are now shoots that you don't want, remove them with your pruner. That's all there is to it.
Fruit trees are frequently grafted to roots of a different variety, or even a different ...
10
Improper pruning can shorten a tree's life. However you would have to work really hard to damage a willow with bad pruning. Here's why:
Willows grow fast
they will bud from old wood, even really old wood
they are a messy tree, commonly dropping leaves and branches
they are used to breaks or cuts in the branch structure
willows have been coppiced for ...
10
The only time you usually remove leaves which are slightly damaged or part dead is if the plant is highly ornamental and it's detracting from its appearance, or the leaf is damaged by some kind of infection or invader. Otherwise, just wait for the leaf to shrivel and fall off naturally, or remove it when it's at that stage.
10
Cut off all dead wood at the base, leaving just the live stems - you don't need to do anything to the roots. You might, though, want to consider replacing the plant - it'll look pretty ugly once the dead stuff has been removed. This plant doesn't regenerate from old wood, so you won't get any new growth other than on the two existing live stems.
10
If you cut the root you will damage the leaves that are fed by that root. That root also provides structural stability.
A better idea is to rebuild or remove the retaining wall in that area. The root will only get bigger and they can move quite large stones and interlock.
9
As @Grady says, removing leaves could result in more harm than good. Some people prune the tops of tomatoes and peppers to keep them within a certain size. I don't do this with my peppers - they have space, and I just let them grow. More plant = more peppers down the road.
In the case of peppers (and most fruiting plants), removing fruit can enhance growth. ...
9
If you prune before end of summer, you're pruning off fruit that could develop in the fall. I've never heard of pruning in summer so a tree could recover before winter.
Pruning should done in the dormant season, as figs bleed a latex sap if pruned during the growing season.
Link
Pruning of fig trees should be done during cold weather if possible. ...
9
No, don't cut this one back,it'll ruin its structure, and anyway, they bleed like crazy if you cut them. The thing to remember about any Ficus is they're fussy - they absolutely hate a change in conditions, and in particular, a draught. Indoors, most will drop leaves when the seasons change, so in spring and again in autumn, and mostly because the heating ...
9
You definitely need to do some pruning. Before you start pruning a tree, you should find all of the graft points. Since you have multi-graft trees, there should be one graft at the point where each main branch comes off of the trunk. As you are pruning, keep in mind that if you cut a grafted branch off or cut it back so close to this graft that it will have ...
9
Oh my goodness. Do you understand the treasure you have? Find a master pruner to create a covered walkway! How wonderful. If you destroy this tree I will haunt you when I am dead! (Grins). That tree should not be getting taller at all. Weeping trees are two trees grafted together; a prostrate variety of the same species grafted on top of an upright ...
9
The white patches mostly appear to be one of the lichens rather than fungal mycelium - the fact that they're under the moss isn't unusual, and no treatment is required. Moss and lichens often occur together on old trees, but it is true that weak, very old or diseased trees tend to have more lichen growth on them. Even if there is some fungal mycelium in ...
8
Many apples fruit from multi-year-old "spurs" - specialized branches that mostly grow the clusters of flower buds. It sounds to me like you may have accidentally pruned a lot of your fruiting spurs off with the water sprouts and other extra branches.
8
According to Wayne K. Clatterbuck in the article Tree Wounds on the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Tree Care Kit:
Research indicates that wound dressings (materials such as tar or paint) do not prevent decay and may even interfere with wound closure. Wound dressings can have the following detrimental effects:
Prevent drying and encourage fungal ...
8
Pruning the branch back hard/heavily is about the only thing that will keep the crotch from splitting, aside from guy wiring it to other parts of the tree. For all practical intents, that joint will never get stronger. However, there is no reason to wait until next season. You can remove the branch anytime during the growing season (trees naturally ...
8
Allow the side shoots to grow.
Bush beans are bred to be bushy, so by removing them you're fighting the plants' natural growth habit. The side shoots also carry leaves, which will provide more energy for making baby beans, and flowers, which will turn into those baby beans.
The typical spacing that I've seen for bush beans is 6" between plants in a row, so ...
8
Lavender is a plant that can get straggly if it's not pruned, but it's a small perennial shrub, so its needs are very different from basil which is an herbaceous annual.
Essentially, you allow lavender to grow until it's reached the size you want for the place you've planted it. Then, every year after that, you cut it back by about ⅓ of its size; it ...
8
You may be right - the grafted part died back, the rootstock took over, and the only part that's left of the original grafted lemon is at the bottom. It shouldn't be thorny - the thorny parts will be off the rootstock, which might be sour lemon or some other citrus rootstock, hard to say, but growth off the stock might very well be thorny. If the leaves on ...
8
I think the grouping would look more logical if it were made on the way the trees set fruit: stone fruit trees (plum, apricot) are the early bloomers, while the trees with fruits that contain seeds (apple and pear) are the late bloomers.
One thing important when pruning is that different species form their flower buds the previous year, while others form ...
8
You can certainly try to, but you will face at least two significant problems:
Apical dominance - if you cut out the leader (the strongest shoot right at the top of the tree) this will trigger other shoots to try to take over the job of stretching upwards. Several shoots might try to become the leader, but there will be a constant stretch upwards so it is a ...
8
You can also prune when it freezes, without problems. I do that regularly under snow and have never had a problem. It is also done regularly in my region.
Just:
don't prune too much early: wait a few weeks until after the last leaves fall, in order to let the starch to reach the roots.
if your region could have a strong freeze (less than -15° C, 5° F), ...
8
The cut is fine but the tree has or will have issues. You can see that there is already interior decay in the heartwood of the tree. As stormy indicates water will enter the wound and decay will continue.
Do not put tar on the wound or do anything else. Research has shown further action with sealants is harmful to the tree as this answer indicates.
On ...
7
I have an Explorer rose that is almost three meters tall. At one point in time I wanted to get rid of it and dug down to the roots. I used a spade, a saw and eventually, an axe. Despite removing roots as thick as my arm it was impossible to kill. Next year it put on the best flower show ever and I have since learned to love it... at a distance.
The books ...
7
The traditional way to do this is to buy an apple tree which is grafted onto a dwarfing root stock such as E.M.26. You can keep fruit trees smaller but it's more work without the right rootstock. Keep in mind that even semi dwarf rootstock will "grow to be twice as tall as the average person". Things you can do are listed here but can be summarized as:
...
7
In one word, no, sorry! Training an evergreen by practicing topiary starts when the plant is small and involves repeated prunings over a few years. If you took your existing evergreens and pruned them into spiral shapes you would expose inside areas of the plant where there is no growth.
Most evergreens do not bud or grow from old wood with the exception ...
7
Summer is the time to remove vigorous growth and keep the tree to a manageable size. Winter is the time to structurally prune and to stimulate lots of new growth.
Say, for instance, you have a tree with 5 branches. In winter, the sap moves down out of the 5 branches. Then you cut 3 of the branches away. In spring, when the sap rises, it will be looking ...
7
We've grown Autumn Bliss for years - it's a great variety!
Yes, you should be able to prune now. Once a cane has fruited and you have taken all the fruit you want from it, cut it down to near the ground. It will not fruit properly again, and will probably die on its own over the winter anyway, so you aren't really losing anything, especially once the new ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
