I'm inclined to trim - quite heavily - a lilac, and also a Japanese (red) maple, and to do it about now.
Both are very beautiful small trees, but with the last year's worth of weather-mix, they have both grown well beyond the size we want. I'm thinking of doing some trimming of boughs/branches now, so that I can see exactly what shape I'm making -- in winter I find itdifficult to judge this.
I thought also that if I do it now (lots of warm weather, and rain, to come) new growth will have a good chance to start before the autumn.
Any comments, anyone, please?
TIA
John
I'm inclined to trim - quite heavily - a lilac, and also a Japanese (red) maple, and to do it about now.
Both are very beautiful small trees, but with the last year's worth of weather-mix, they have both grown well beyond the size we want. I'm thinking of doing some trimming of boughs/branches now, so that I can see exactly what shape I'm making -- in winter I find itdifficult to judge this.
I thought also that if I do it now (lots of warm weather, and rain, to come) new growth will have a good chance to start before the autumn.
Any comments, anyone, please?
TIA
John
On 24/06/2025 12:37, Another John wrote:
I'm inclined to trim - quite heavily - a lilac, and also a Japanese (red)
maple, and to do it about now.
Both are very beautiful small trees, but with the last year's worth of
weather-mix, they have both grown well beyond the size we want. I'm thinking
of doing some trimming of boughs/branches now, so that I can see exactly what
shape I'm making -- in winter I find itdifficult to judge this.
I thought also that if I do it now (lots of warm weather, and rain, to come) >> new growth will have a good chance to start before the autumn.
Any comments, anyone, please?
TIA
John
As its not sap rising season and you want to preserve the trees, invest
in a pot of Arbrax or whatever its called these days. Brush on to avoid infection getting into the cuts, check its compatible with your tree types.
On 24/06/2025 12:37, Another John wrote:
I'm inclined to trim - quite heavily - a lilac, and also a JapaneseAs its not sap rising season and you want to preserve the trees, invest
(red) maple, and to do it about now.
Both are very beautiful small trees, but with the last year's worth of
weather-mix, they have both grown well beyond the size we want. I'm
thinking of doing some trimming of boughs/branches now, so that I can
see exactly what shape I'm making -- in winter I find itdifficult to
judge this.
I thought also that if I do it now (lots of warm weather, and rain, to
come) new growth will have a good chance to start before the autumn.
Any comments, anyone, please?
TIA
John
in a pot of Arbrax or whatever its called these days. Brush on to avoid infection getting into the cuts, check its compatible with your tree
types.
I'm inclined to trim - quite heavily - a lilac, and also a Japanese (red) maple, and to do it about now.
Both are very beautiful small trees, but with the last year's worth of weather-mix, they have both grown well beyond the size we want. I'm thinking of doing some trimming of boughs/branches now, so that I can see exactly what shape I'm making -- in winter I find itdifficult to judge this.
I thought also that if I do it now (lots of warm weather, and rain, to come) new growth will have a good chance to start before the autumn.
Any comments, anyone, please?
For comparison, look at all the flail cut hedgerows.
They don't have anyone following on with a large tin of Arbrex. :-)
On 27/06/2025 12:03, David wrote:
I'm sure some of the gardening wisdom comes from the Victorian (or
before) era where the head gardener who wrote the book had 20 staff
under him to do the real work.
On 29/06/2025 08:04, alan_m wrote:
On 27/06/2025 12:03, David wrote:
I'm sure some of the gardening wisdom comes from the Victorian (or
before) era where the head gardener who wrote the book had 20 staff
under him to do the real work.
It's some time since I stated the most important gardening rule by far: *Plants can't read*
In other words, they pay no attention to the written word of what
someone /thinks/ they should be doing.
On 27/06/2025 12:03, David wrote:
For comparison, look at all the flail cut hedgerows.
They don't have anyone following on with a large tin of Arbrex. :-)
Often you can hack something down without any medium or long term undue problems.
I'm sure some of the gardening wisdom comes from the Victorian (or
before) era where the head gardener who wrote the book had 20 staff
under him to do the real work.
I read an article years back about saving labour in places like public
parks. In a rose garden trimming back with secateurs or a hedge trimmer produced the same results. Perhaps a bit of short term messiness but no lasting harm and no difference to blooming.
But only humans have Baffle-able Brains.
The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
Oh, I don't know, our dog looks pretty baffled sometimes!
But only humans have Baffle-able Brains.
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