Pruning 101: Deciduous vs Evergreen and Sea Urchin Hakea

We start with part three of a new series “pruning 101” with landscape designer Jason Cornish, in Design elements and a fabulous pom pom flowers in plant of the week.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

• Pruning 101: Deciduous vs Evergreen.

Deciduous and evergreen plants have different pruning needs.
Have you ever had a shrub, say philadelphus that you thought wasn’t performing-no flowers for several years, so you transplanted it or pulled it out?
Perhaps you weren’t timing it right?

Philadelphus coronarius

I'm talking with Jason Cornish from www.urbanmeadows.com.au
Let’s find out.

Marianne's Tips on Pruning

Pruning group	Pruning method	Time of pruning	Examples of plants
Flower on current season’s growth	Old wood thing. New growth shortened.	Winter/early spring	Roses, abelia, buddleia. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Flowers on previous season’s growth	Immediately after flowering	Spring	Spiraea, Rondeletia,Prunus glandulosa, Acacia, Callistemon, Grevillea
Flowering on older wood and spurs	Maintain tidy shape	After flowering	Prunus cerasifera & other prunus species
For showy fruits	Cut away most of leaders	After fruiting if needed	Cotoneaster, pyracantha, Berberis spp.
For showy foliage	Prune 50% of growth’ feed and water	Winter to spring	Abutilon, Aucuba japonica-gold dust plant. Buxus.  Hebe, Euonymus.
Non flowering evergreen	Do not prune back beyond green foliage into older wood	Late winter	Conifers

If you don’t know what shrub or tree that you’ve got, the best advice is to wait until it flowers or sets fruit, and then prune after that.

• In the case of philadelphus, as soon as the shrub had finished flowering, cut out all of the stems which have just flowered.
• Prune them back to around a third of their length. They will soon start to produce new stems which will provide the flowering stems for next year. Don’t just prune little bits off the end 

If you have any questions for me or for Jason, please write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Hakea petiolaris; Sea Urchin  Hakea

There are many reasons to like a particular plant which affects our choices.
For some it’s the flowers or the perfume, for others it’s the colour of the leaves.
But for something completely different, others like a plant because of the sound the wind makes through the leaves of that particular plant.

Hakea petiolaris flower

So what will appeal with this plant?
I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, horticulturist and native plant expert.
Let’s find out.

For grey leaves, and spectacular flowers, the hakea is something to think about if you want a native small tree.

Medium tree 5 to 11 m high. Leaves are pale grey, broadly  obovate in shape and range from 5-15cm long by 2.3-6cm wide. 

Endemic to the south west of Australia, occurring at the coastal plain, jarrah forest and wheatbelt regions, often at the ancient granite outcrops of Western Australia. 

The only thing to watch for is high humidity can make them short lived.
Still, if you collect the seeds, then grow some more from seed and you’ll have another tree quite quickly.

If you have any questions for me or for Adrian, please contact us or write in.