Espalier is just a fancy word for training shrubs and trees flat like they are vines. Why bother when there are so many nice vines to grow?

In many cases espaliers expand the texture, bloom or general effect that is available from vines. Examples include the broad leaf of Southern Magnolia, the winter bloom of sasanqua camellias or the dramatic winter effect of Flowering Pear (Pyrus kawakami). In addition even trees like Flowering Pear and Magnolia require less pruning than most vines.

The primary problem I see with many home owners training techniques is the tendency to tie back all the branches that develop. This encourages the espallier to grow away from the center of the plant and expose the branching structure.

If you train the first branches to create the structure and then keep the secondary branches pruned short you avoid this. In addition it increases the bloom which in most cases is why you are doing the espallier.

This is important whether you are developing a formal armed structure like apples and pears have been trained for well over 100 years or a more informal structure.

The pruning is done during the growing season and generally is minimal if done regularly. This is a great way to increase interest in todays small yards.

Plants I regularly use as espalliers include: fruiting apples and pears, flowering Pear, Loropetalum, Sasanqua Camellias, Hollywood Juniper, and cCtrus (especially oranges and grape fruit).

What does the change into summer mean to me as a gardener?

Well, first watering. Be sure that you water deeply enough. Get away from the 5 minutes each day irrigation schedule. Stasndard sprinkler heads usually need 20 to 30 minutes to get enough water to get the watger down to the roots. If you have run off problems you need to schedule repeated irrigations that add up to the 20 or 30 minutes. these should be scheldued one after the other leaving just enough time for the water to soak in.

If you have drip systems or rotory type heads you need an hour or more. True drip systems that are putting out 1-2 gallons per hour often neede to run multiple hours. Modified drip systems usually run about an hour.

I have talked about mulching but the hot weather makes it specially important. Mulching keeps the root system cool and continuing to function. We recomend about 2" of humus or bark covering.

If you have a lawn with dry spots you need to determine if there is a irrigation design problem or a compaction problem. A design problem obviously needs to be fixed but be carefull about adding new heads. sometimes adding heads will reduct the throw of the existying heads and create more problems.

Compaction problems need aeration to allow the water to penetrate!

On young gardens don't be afraid to do some tipping to keep plants bushy.

This last is the key to nut grass control. You have to keep them down until every nut is exhausted. At some point they get weaker and thinner and often people quit controlling them. Then they discover, in about a month, the nut grass is back as heavy as before.

The method you use is not as important as keeping the shoots out. The low tech control is just hand weeding. At home I have a juniper bed that I removed. Removing the junipers exposed soil with nut grass. Because it is near the driveway I can see the nut grass daily and every time I get into or out of the car I look for nut grass shouts. I started this spring and it is almost gone. Having said that I expect to have to keep on it through fall and even maybe next spring.

A few years ago a couple of new products came out that are supposed to control the nuts. We are using them on somne areas of nut grass in the nursery. The products are called “Manage” and “Nutgrass’nihlator”. There are two forms of nut grass: Purple nut grass and yellow nut grass. Yellow is the most common here and they both work on yellow nut sedge and not on purple nut sedge. We will be able to give you a report on how they did later this summer.

An older product that works is called “ Weed Hoe”. This will kill nut grass in a lawn environment if applied correctly. Application rate is important but it can be useful in controlling nut grass in lawns.

Remember though you aren’t finished until the very last shoot is gone!!

For new plantings summer pruning is a way to keep plants more compact, direct their growth in the direction you want and is a method to control their size.

Tipping plants while they are young keeps long whippy growth from developing. Depending on the growth I often prune new growth back about 50%. What this does is forces additional branching and more compact growth. I just recently pruned a new planting of azaleas back. Often I see azaleas never pruned and they are leggy, don’t make a good bloom show and just aren’t attractive.

People that do prune often wait until the plant is growing larger than they want.
When you do this you develop a thick surface of foliage, but no depth to the foliage. This means if you want to reduce the size you are cutting into old dry wood without any foliage. It also means any new growth is allowing the plant to get too large and you have to prune again and again. More work and often less bloom. A pruning technique that thins and removes wood back farther means less frequent pruning.

If you start controlling the size of plants while they are young means the root system doesn’t get as large. Once the root system gets really going it means the plant wants to continuing to grow. Again this means more frequent pruning.

I suppose this is where a comment on choosing plants that want to stay in bounds is in order. As a designer one of the most common comments I get is “can’t I prune that back and keep to 3’ or 6’”? The problem is the answer is yes. Often unspoken is the additional comment “ why do you want the additional work. People expect to prune their yard every month to keep it in bounds. Realistically you should have to prune once or twice a year. Hedges and roses excepted

Gardening should be fun. For most of us monthly pruning to keep plants under control is not what we want to do in our lives. Proper pruning and proper plant selection can mean less work.

Here are some pictures of non-natural pruning techniques that I see as causing additional work and loosing the character that was the reason for planting

Lavender pruned like a stovepipe.

Loropetalum as a stove pipe.

Both of these plants are noted for their informal habit of growth. The lavender obviously can't bloom over the entire plant and as soon as there is any new growth it is going to be time to prune again. Lavender when used correctly should need pruning only once or twice a year.

The loropetalum makes a very large arching shrub. It naturaly grows about 6-8' across and as tall. Again this pruning is going to stop most of the bloom and obviously require lots of regular pruning.

Using plants in areas that they fit is rule #1. Thining combined with tipping can reduce the frequency of required pruning. More attractive plants, less work and more blooms.

Come in and talk to one of our staff on natural pruning techniques!!!

By the way the Garden Crew specializes in natural pruning. If you can't get your plants taken care of correctly "Let the Garden Crew do the dirty work".

What else can I do.

Pruning is important to keep the rose hips from developing. Rose hips slow down the regrowth because the food energy that could go to new growth and flowers is going to seed production. Pruning is also important to keep roses in shape. Shorten any odd growing branch. Landscape roses often need a good pruning to keep them is shape, compact and not overgrown. This also stimulates more growth which means more bloom

Last but not least is fertilizer. Fertilizing with Masters Rose and Flower food is the last thing you need to do to keep your roses blooming. By continuing to fertilize monthly you can keep your roses blooming through November and even into december here.

There are differences in how diferent varieties respond to the heat. Some varieties like Double Delight and Paradise tend to burn during the hot weather. Others thend to stall and won't starft growing untill the weather cools off. Still others like Saint Patrick do their best in hot weather.

In any case these tips will get the best you can from your summer time roses!