Each Issue, the editors find content of interest from the world wide web and feature it below. This week, our featured video is an interview with noted horticulturist Dr. William C. Welch, about his adventures discovering lost and forgotten rose cultivars across Texas and Louisiana.
Featured Video: Rustling Roses and History: With Texas A&M Extension Horticulturist Dr. William C. Welch, author of ‘Antique Roses for the South’
Azaleas are a beautiful shrub for the north Florida landscape, especially if pruned properly. Source: Larry Williams, UF/IFAS
The sight of azaleas in the north Florida spring just makes you feel good. They are so vibrant, and with such variation, that you can’t take your eyes off them. As an appreciator of these beautiful displays of color, nothing pains me more than to see an improperly pruned azalea during this time. If you must prune your azaleas, please, please only prune them once a year and only soon after flowering has ended! This public service announcement will hopefully ensure we all get to see the full azalea show. Otherwise, we’ll be left with mostly green hedges, some flowers uncomfortably tucked in the interior of the plants, or flowers poking out the sides like a middle-aged man’s balding head.
If pruned properly and at the right time, this azalea shrub would be a mass of flowers. Source: Mark Tancig, UF/IFAS.
The common flowering azaleas in landscaped settings are native to Japan and a relative of blueberries. They comprise many different hybrids, cultivars, and varieties of plants in the genus Rhododendron (Greek for rose-tree) and have been cultivated for centuries. Long ago, I’m sure, those who studied plants and tinkered with azaleas realized that their vegetative growth (new leaves and stems) ends soon after flower bud initiation. This means that later prunings, or multiple prunings throughout the year, will be taking off more developing flower buds than new leaf and stem growth.
To prevent depriving us all of less flowers, consider why – or if – they need pruning in the first place. Proper planning and planting can prevent azaleas, which naturally want to be a sprawling shrub, from growing into the sidewalk or driveway. If you’ve inherited azaleas that may be the right plant, but slightly in the wrong place, they can be heavily pruned every couple of years to keep them in check, and can even be transplanted. Azaleas are not a good choice for formal hedges. If given the right place and enough space, the only required pruning would be dead, diseased, or crossing branches.
If you decide you need to prune – whether to knock back for space or for general shape – only bust out the loppers once the flowers have withered on the ground… and then lock those loppers away so that you won’t be tempted. If you have landscapers working for you, remind them to keep the hedge trimmers away from the azaleas.
Azaleas are vibrant, even in black and white! Source: Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Project.
For the love of flowers, please prune azaleas thoughtfully, and share this information with others
P.S. We also have several species of native azaleas (including Rhododendron austrinum and Rhododendron canescens) that can be a beautiful addition to the landscape.
Shrubs can serve many purposes in a landscape and have been used in both mass plantings and as accent features. They can include plants that offer colorful blooms, food for pollinators, and screens for less than favorable views.
We tend to think that shrubs will be permanent feature in our landscapes, because many are hardy and adapted to our climate. Like any other plant you may choose for your yard, shrubs may not live forever and there are a wide variety of reasons a shrub may need replacement after years of solid performance.
Let’s use any example from my own yard of the Dwarf yaupon holly, Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana.’ Back in 2001, I planted three hollies, spaced with plenty of room to grow, in a border area of my landscape. The plants grew well forming mounds about 3.5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Since the ‘Nana’ holly is a naturally mounding shrub, it did not require pruning and once established, rainfall supplied needed water.
Yaupon holly with dieback after 17 years in a landscape. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Over the past year, several areas of branch dieback have developed in all plants. After finally deciding that the dieback was unattractive enough to warrant plant removal, I began cutting the plants back. I discovered dead interior branches, girdling roots, and some internal stem discoloration. In other words, there are many factors that have led to poor plant performance. Another issue is a large Loropetalum hedge (planted by my neighbor) that shades one side of the plant.
Girdling roots often develop when rootballs have not been properly prepared during installation. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
What could I have done to help these plants stay healthier for many more years? I could have prepared the rootball better for planting by shaving off the edges or supplied a little fertilizer on occasion in my sandy soil. These practices may have extended the life of the plants for several more years, but they may not have made a difference. Sometimes shrubs decline and die. I am accepting that not everything performs at an outstanding level in our climate. Also, there is an end point for some of my favorite plants in the yard. Some may outlive me while others thrive for a few years or a decade or so.
The bright side of loss of my Yaupon hollies is that I get to plan for a feature for the new year. Maybe something for pollinators and birds to last the next 17 years.
Partly uprooted tree from hurricane. Photo credit: Larry Williams
Hurricane damaged plants should be cared for as soon as possible. Partially uprooted small trees and shrubs should be securely staked in their original positions. Until plants are reset, protect exposed roots and prevent drying. Soil, moist burlap sacks or moist sphagnum moss can be put on exposed roots. Remove damaged roots so the tree can be reset at ground level.
Once reset, trees should be secured. Two or three, four-foot long, 2 x 2 inch wood stakes can usually anchor trees with trunk diameters less than two inches. Stakes should be placed about a foot outside root ball and inserted eighteen inches into soil. Secure stakes to trunk with ties made from wide, smooth material or hose-covered wire. Trees two inches or larger in diameter should be guyed with three or four wires or cables. Guy wires are secured to deeply driven short stakes evenly spaced outside the root ball. Guy wires should be run through rubber hose and secured to trunk at only one level. Mark support wires with bright materials to prevent accidents.
Guy wires should be adjusted several times during growing season to minimize trunk injury. Support stakes and wires should stay in place for one year.
Soil should be filled around root area once the tree is staked into position. Firm around roots to eliminate air pockets and provide support. Excess soil over the normal root area can be damaging. Only replace soil that has been washed or worked away from roots.
In cases where all branches were destroyed, remove the tree. This is especially important for trees such as pine that do not normally regain their natural form. You may be able to keep other trees such as oaks, where strong bottom limbs still exist. However, emerging sprouts from ends of large, cut limbs will be poorly secured to the tree and are likely to fall from the tree during a storm. In addition, decay organisms usually enter these large wounds. Trees and shrubs that lost their leaves from high winds can usually be saved and should resume growth.
Any tree work, including tree removal should be done by a professional arborist, preferably a certified arborist. To find a certified arborist in your area contact the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) at 217 355-9411 or at http://www.isa-arbor.com/. You also may contact the Florida Chapter of ISA at 941-342-0153 or at http://www.floridaisa.org/.
Reset plants should be watered twice a week and fertilizer should not be applied. Until re-established, fertilizer will be of no benefit and may injure new roots.
Plants exposed to saltwater, including lawns, should be irrigated with fresh water as soon as possible. Apply water more frequently than under normal conditions.
For additional information, visit http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/disaster-prep-and-recovery or contact the UF/IFAS Extension Office in your county.
A very popular landscape shrub installed by both professionals and homeowners is Loropetalum or Chinese fringe. This shrub offers attractive foliage and flowers along with being evergreen.
When you visit a nursery to select this plant for your landscape, realize that there are now many selections of Loropetalum available. Learn about a few of the common selections in this recording of ‘In the Garden’, with UF/ IFAS Extension Escambia County Horticulture Agent Beth Bolles, so that you are successful at matching the appropriate plant with your landscape needs.