voices-
MAY 20. 2011
1 3 ^ 1 # :
l
EAN N
o ch e
*
OREGON S LGBTO N EW SM A G A ZIN E
W e’ve all seen them. The overly manscaped,
the bad mullet-inspired haircut and the self-
inflicted trim o f the bangs that ended up way,
way, way too short— not that I’m speaking
from experience or anything. Just as with hu
man trimming, pruning of plants can go wrong
quickly if you let it.
I have a knack for spotting horrific pruning
jobs, whether it be lollipop bushes lined up in
front, overly sheared evergreens obviously des
tined for death or topping of trees. Yes, top
ping o f trees. I don’t think anything gets my
goat like seeing a beautiful tree topped. So let’s
start there.
One of my favorite horticultural organiza
tions is Plant Amnesty fplantamnesty.org),
whose mission is to end the senseless torture
and mutilation of trees and shrubs. They list
five reasons to stop topping trees, and they’re
good ones:
It won’t work. Topping actually makes trees
grow back more.
It’s expensive. Once you’ve topped a tree,
there’s no going back. It will need to be done
every year or two.
It’s ugly. Enough said.
I t’s dangerous. Topping a tree stresses it,
making it more prone to rot, weak limbs
and increased potential for being blown
over by wind.
It makes you look bad. Yes, they really do
list this. I love Plant Amnesty.
Lesson? If you have a good-sized tree, bring
in a professional. If you are growing trees, read
up on when and how to prune for the kind of
tree you’re growing.
Now onto shrubs gone bad. In my early days
of gardening, I committed some horrific acts
of pruning. I got caught up in all of that vigor
ous cutting and chopping, much like the chan
neling of Edward Scissorhands, but then I
came to my senses and awoke to reality. Paus
ing for a moment in the frenzy, I stood back
and saw the atrocity. I had pruned an evergreen
directly outside o f the window, cutting away all
of the outer green growth and exposing the
dead, brown underside. Sure, the new view
from inside had more daylight, but it also fea
tured a bird’s eye view into what appeared to
be a dead plant. Fail.
I’ve learned a lot since that episode, but one
of the most helpful things I’ve realized is that
pruning is counterintuitive. You don’t prune in
spring to control growth. Pruning now will
encourage growth because wherever you make
a cut, new growth will spring forth, two and
three fold. And pruning an ancient evergreen
down to the nubbins will not spring forth a
lush, spry plant.
In the words of Kenny Rogers, You've got to
know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em /
Know when to walk away, know when to run /
Know when it's time to prune, know when you
need to admit poor plant choice. Okay, that last
sentence wasn’t part of Kenny’s lyrics, but it’s
true. A plant too large for the space it’s in will
most likely not look lovely overly pruned. Get
rid of it and grow plants appropriate for the
space they’re in.
Different pruning is required for different
plants: Plants that flower on new wood can he
pruned in early spring, because the new growth
will bloom. However, pruning hard on plants
that bloom on year-old wood will not.
Step away from the pruning as you go. Look
at what you’re doing and where you’re cutting.
Take a break and come back—or else you
might end up with a giant bush in the shape of
a butt. Then again, maybe that’s the look you’re
going for? JO]
L e A n n L ocher prunes with restraint these
days. She can be found in her North Portland gar
den and online at lelonopo.com.
OPERATED!
THE
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