Q. My roses are doing reasonably well, but some of the stems are very long and leggy. I prefer that the plants be bushier. Am I pruning them wrong?
A. I wouldn’t say you’re pruning them wrong. You need to prune the bushes a bit more aggressively after each flush of flowers. But first, you need to identify whether or not the long canes are part of the desired variety or rogue or sucker growth. Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, and Floribunda varieties are budded onto a second variety called the rootstock. It’s typical for roses to produce rogue or sucker growth. These are shoots that develop below the bud union or off the surface roots. The bud union is the knot-like structure found at the base of the bush. These are vigorous shoots that grow rapidly into long, leggy branches. Another characteristic of this growth is that they produce small, cherry red flowers. This growth is eliminated while the other shoots are pruned back.
Many rose pruning books will instruct you to prune back to the second set of five leaves. I tend to ignore this point and prune to shape the bushes, especially the sides, so the plants don’t merge into one another. We do tend to plant our roses a bit to close too one another. The top is then lowered to control and prevent them from growing too tall. This should be a standard practice throughout the growing season when you remove the spent flowers. Also, you want to make your cut where there is an outside bud. All the buds are located in the area where the leaf blade attaches to the stem. At this time of the year, don’t want to leave the plant void of leaves, as the green stems will burn in the afternoon sun.
It would be best if you continued to feed your plants with Dr. Earth Rose Food or similar fertilizer right through the fall. They should be watered the day before fertilizing and immediately afterward to prevent fertilizer burn. It’s not too late to mulch your plants to conserve moisture, as there are plenty more warm days ahead. A two-inch layer of mulch should be spread a foot beyond the drip line of each plant. This extra attention will reward you with two or more flushes for flowers between now and the New Year.
Q. My backyard lawn has patches of Crabgrass. Which ‘Weed and Feed’ should I be using to control it? I haven’t been successful with the ones I’ve tried.
A. Bayer Advanced ‘All in One Weed and Feed’ is a granular product that fertilizes the lawn, kills broadleaf weeds along with Crabgrass and other undesirable grasses. This is the first year it has been available. ‘All in One Weed and Feed’ uses the same active ingredient that you would find the liquid Crabgrass control. The liquid Crabgrass killer comes in a ‘Ready to Spray’ container that you attached to your hose. There are several brands available. So far, I’ve found these products to be disappointing in controlling the actively growing Crabgrass. They’re very slow-acting, taking weeks for the results to show up. Crabgrass goes dormant in the winter and reappears around the 4th Of July. It thrives until November when it goes to seed and dies out. The best most effective method of controlling Crabgrass is to kill the dormant seeds. Pre-emergent Crabgrass turf products are applied in January and February. That being said, I’m going to try ‘All In One Weed and Feed’ to see if it’s more effective than the liquid.
Q. I need to move an established Bougainvillea so we can enlarge our family room. Can it be transplanted at this time of the year? I really would like it to survive.
A. Bougainvilleas are successfully transplanted from containers. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with established plants. They have a very fine root system that doesn’t knit tightly to form a solid rootball. When they’re moved, the root ball breaks apart, reducing the survival rate. This is not an ideal time to move it with the warm days and nights. You’d be better off if you waited until October, but that may not be an option. So, here is how I’d go about moving it now. I’d look to do this during the early morning or evening, avoiding the heat of the day. The first thing to do is prune the canopy back severely. This reduces the demand on the roots.
I’d first dig around the plant to form the root ball and support it by lining it with cardboard secured with ties. I’d use several bungee cord ties available at any home improvement store and secure it tightly. Next carefully, tip the root ball over cutting the roots as you go. The rootball is then picked up or slid it carefully to a new location and upright in the new hole. As the backfill is added, you remove the ties but not the cardboard. It will decompose naturally. You would cut off any cardboard that extends above the soil. Proper planting techniques are employed by amending the backfill with soil amendments and be sure not to bury the root ball to seep. Finally, please take a few digital pictures of it for the refrigerator before you start. In this way, you avoid the last memory of your favorite plant, collapsing, turning brown, and then dying.
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