by Blake Thaxton | May 18, 2017
Properely pruned plants will produce vigroous new growth and ample new flowers. Even though these roses were pruned in February, soon it will be time to prune azaleas, right after they finish their bloom.
Pruning is something all homeowners and landscapers know is one of the many chores to be completed in the landscape. Everyone recognizes that pruning needs to be done on occasion, but it can be confusing to know how to prune the variety of species that can be in a landscape. There are some simplistic principles that can be followed while pruning.
Reasons for pruning:
- Training – to form good structure or good branching.
- Maintain plant vigor
- Control plant form and size
- Influence plant flowering and fruit
When to prune?
Several factors need to be considered when deciding the proper time to prune. If the plant species has a showy bloom to then consider the time of year it blooms. Some landscape plants flower on last years growths, therefore must be pruned following bloom time just before the flower buds are set for next year (ex. azaleas, spireas, and dogwoods). Plants grown with little regard to blooms, such as foliage plants like hollies, can be pruned from January to late Summer.
Learn More:
the following are great extension publications on pruning. read these to learnt he finer details of pruning so you can become an expert. Always remember to call your local extension office if you have any questions regarding pruning.
UF/IFAS – Pruning Landscape Shrubs and Trees
Alabama Cooperative Extension – Pruning Ornamental Plants
UF/IFAS Pruning website
by Daniel J. Leonard | Apr 24, 2017
Almost every landscape has a problem area where the sun just doesn’t shine and many plants won’t make it, maybe it’s the north side of your house, under a small tree, or tucked away in an oddly-shaped alcove. We all know the same old boring green choices that work well here (Holly Fern, Cast Iron Plant, etc.) but maybe you want something a little bit different, something that will provide a pop of color and interesting texture! Look no further than a recent introduction, a whole-plant mutation discovered from the little-used Grape Holly (Mahonia spp.), aptly named ‘Soft Caress’.
‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia is a beautiful little evergreen shrub from the Southern Living Plant Collection (one of the best of the collection in my opinion) and really is a game changer for full-shade areas. Some of you may remember the traditional Mahonia, also known as Grape Holly, from your grandmother’s lawn. Those plants were coarse, spiny, produced messy purplish berries and often appeared generally unkempt. ‘Soft Caress’ is a major departure from its parent. Possessing finely-cut, deep green, bamboo-like foliage, this plant’s texture really contrasts well with many traditional shady species. As a bonus, ‘Soft Caress’ sends up brilliant yellow-gold flower spikes in the dead of winter, certainly a welcome respite from the other barren plants in the landscape; although in this unusually warm year, the plants are just now blooming in the Panhandle.
Photo courtesy: Daniel J. Leonard
‘Soft Caress’ is advertised to grow three feet in height and width, a more manageable size than the larger traditional Mahonia species, but I’m not sure I’d take that as gospel, the three-year old plants (hardly mature specimens) in my parent’s landscape are already that size and show no signs of slowing down. However, I’ve found you can easily manage their size with a once a year prune to slow down some of the more rapidly-growing canes. Be sure to time the prune as soon as possible after flowering is finished as ‘Soft Caress’ blooms only once a year and produces its flowers on the previous season’s wood, just like Indica Azaleas and old-fashioned Hydrangeas.
The uses in the landscape for ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia are nearly endless. It pairs well with almost anything in a shady mixed shrub border. It works nicely as a foundation plant against a porch or under windows on the north or east side of a house where it will be protected from hot afternoon sun; I have employed a grouping of the plants in this way in my own lawn with success. It even thrives in containers! If you want to show off some serious horticultural design skills, mix ‘Soft Caress’ in a large container on the porch with some like-minded perennials for a low-maintenance, high-impact display that you don’t have to replant each season. All this shrub requires is partial to full shade, moist well-drained soil, and an occasional haircut to keep it looking tidy! If you’ve been struggling to find a plant that’s a little more unusual than the standard garden center fare and actually looks good in shady spots, you could do a lot worse than ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia. 
As always, happy gardening and contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension office for more information about this plant and other gardening questions!
by Julie McConnell | Apr 7, 2017
It’s really tempting to buy a tree and plant it in the middle of your lawn or directly in front of your picture window, but instead take some time to choose the best spot first. Several considerations such as maintenance and mature size should be taken into account before the site is selected.
Mowing close to the trunk of this Pindo palm has caused repeated injury to the trunk. Photo: JMcConnell, UF/IFAS
Placing a tree in a lawn area without creating a bed can lead to maintenance issues for both the tree and the turfgrass. It is easy to simply cut out a small patch of turf the size of the rootball and install a tree, however, as the grass grows up towards the trunk over time maintaining that grass will become difficult. It is common to see mechanical injuries to tree trunks because weed eaters or mowers have chipped away at the bark when trying to cut the grass. Other potential problems are irrigation zones calibrated for turf delivering the wrong amount of water to trees and herbicides used on grass that may cause injury to trees.
Over time, as the tree canopy grows, it will create shade and any grass trying to grow in that area will thin and be more susceptible to disease and insect pressure. By creating a large ornamental bed for your tree, you will prevent some pitfalls associated with placing the tree in the lawn.
Another common mistake is planting a tree too close to a house or other structure. It can be difficult to imagine how large a tree will grow at maturity because it is not a quick process. Trees placed close to houses may grow into eaves and shed leaves onto roofs and into gutters. This adds to maintenance and can provide mosquito breeding grounds. Also, some tree roots may interfere with walkways or septic systems and should be sited far enough away to avoid these issues.
These Japanese Maples are planted in a bed separate from the lawn making care for both plant types easier. Photo: JMcConnell, UF/IFAS
Be sure to research any tree you plan to install to find out ideal growing conditions and mature size. If you plan ahead and use good maintenance practices, a tree can become an valuable part of your home landscape to be enjoyed for years to come.
by Mary Salinas | Mar 9, 2017
Dark red flowers of Florida red anise arrive in the springtime. Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
Springtime brings small but very pretty red blooms on an outstanding native shrub/small tree, Florida red anise (Illicium floridanum). It occurs naturally in the wild in the central and western panhandle of Florida and west along the gulf coast into Louisiana. Its natural environment is in the understory along streams and in rich, wooded areas.
This is a great shrub for a part shade to shady and moist area in your landscape. The dense foliage, dark green leaves and the fact that it is evergreen all year makes it a great choice for an informal hedge. Plan for it to grow to a maximum height of 12 to 15 feet.
Dense growth habit of Florida red anise. Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
The leaves have a licorice-like aroma when crushed but this is NOT the species that gives us the edible culinary anise. Maybe it is that aroma that makes this a relatively pest-free plant!
Yellow anise (Illicium parviflorum) is a very similar native shrub but has small yellow flowers and adapts better to a drier environment. The native range of the yellow anise is north central Florida.
by Les Harrison | Feb 3, 2017
Photo caption: Local azaleas were prematurely blooming
This winter’s exceptional weather has deceived some popular springtime ornamental shrubs and fruit trees into flowering prematurely. Azaleas, for example, began blooming because of winter temperatures mush warmer than average.
There are number of variables which determine when a plant will bloom each year, including the sun, water, and air temperature. To understand why the plants bloom, there should be an understanding of “photoperiodism”, meaning the effects of light and darkness on some plant species.
Certain plants respond to the day length. Some are long day plants which flower in spring and summer, and some are short day plants flowering in fall and winter. Then there are plants which will bloom in any season, identified as day neutral plants.
Long and short day plants will not be directly affected by prevailing weather conditions. For example chrysanthemums, which are short day plant naturally bloom in winter.
These plants can be forced to bloom in summer by keeping them in a dark room for 12 hours a day for several weeks. Many nurseries supplying florist uses this technique and utilize greenhouses with blackout systems. They also use grow lights to produce early season blooms on spring/summer flowers sold for Valentine Day.
For those neutral day plants there is “vernalization”. These plants must be exposed to cold weather to some greater or lesser amount.
Most temperate fruit trees need exposure to cold temperatures. When winters are too mild or contain intermittent warmer periods, dormancy is prematurely terminated and bud break starts.
Most of the exposed buds of these fruit trees can survive freezing temperatures, but many of their flowers will be killed if exposed to a late arriving hard freeze or frost.
After the freeze most of the flowers may appear normal, but the center part of the flower where the reproductive organs reside are killed and result in no fruit formation. Covering plants in-bloom provides some freeze protection.
With a warm early winter, like December 2016, there has been irregular and premature flowering.
Another consideration is fruit trees or shrubs pruned too early winter. Warm weather combined with the pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots.
There is a hormone produced in lateral or terminal shoot buds which travels down the shoots inhibiting their growth. When the terminal shoots are pruned too early the growth inhibiting hormone is removed.
The warm days during winter may cause these newly pruned plants to form new shoots. The new growth is tender and very susceptible to freeze injuries. Pruning in late January or February will likely deliver the best results.
For shrubs like azaleas and gardenias, flower buds are set in summer, long before they can be identified by most people. Losing the buds, no matter the cause, after midsummer drastically decreases the number of flowers the following spring.
To learn more about the spring bloom for 2017, visit the UF/IFAS County Extension website
By: Gohar Umar, FAMU Extension Horticulture Specialist, and Les Harrison, Wakulla County Extension Director
Photo caption: Local azaleas were prematurely blooming
by Julie McConnell | Jan 17, 2017
Winter flowers and small leaves with serrated edges lead to identification as Camellia sasanqua. Photo: J_McConnell, UF/IFAS
A common diagnostic service offered at your local UF/IFAS Extension office is plant identification. Whether you need a persistent weed identified so you can implement a management program or you need to identify an ornamental plant and get care recommendations, we can help!
In the past, we were reliant on people to bring a sample to the office or schedule a site visit, neither of which is very practical in today’s busy world. With the recent widespread availability of digital photography, even the least technology savvy person can usually email photos themselves or they have a friend or family member who can assist.
If you need to send pictures to a volunteer or extension agent it’s important that you are able to capture the features that are key to proper identification. Here are some guidelines you can use to ensure you gather the information we need to help you.
Entire plant – seeing the size, shape, and growth habit (upright, trailing, vining, etc.) is a great place to begin. This will help us eliminate whole categories of plants and know where to start.
Stems/trunks – to many observers stems all look the same, but to someone familiar with plant anatomy telltale features such as raised lenticels, thorns, wings, or exfoliating bark can be very useful. Even if it doesn’t look unique to you, please be sure to send a picture of stems and the trunk.
Leaves – leaf color, size and shape is important, but also how the leaves are attached to the stem is a critical identification feature. There are many plants that have ½ inch long dark green leaves, but the way they are arranged, leaf margin (edges), and vein patterns are all used to confirm identification. Take several leaf photos including at least one with some type of item for scale such as a small ruler or a common object like a coin or ballpoint pen; this helps us determine size. Take a picture that shows how leaves are attached to stems – being able to see if leaves are in pairs, staggered, or whorled around a stem is also important. Flip the leaf over and take a picture of the underside, some plants have distinctive veins or hairs on the bottom surface that may not be visible in a picture taken from above.
Flowers – if flowers are present, include overall picture so the viewer can see where it is located within the plant canopy along with a picture close enough to show structure.
Fruit – fruit are also good identification pictures and these should accompany something for scale to help estimate size.
Any additional information you are able to provide can help – if the plant is not flowering but you remember that it has white, fragrant flowers in June, make sure to include that in your description.
Learning what plants you have in your landscape will help you use your time and resources more efficiently in caring for you yard. Contact your local UF/IFAS Extension office to find out who to send requests for plant id.
