K-State Research and Extension

Late Winter Pruning of Deciduous Trees

By Ron Honig

Deciduous trees are those trees that produce leaves annually and drop those leaves during the winter months.  Performing some annual pruning on shade trees, especially when they are young, helps the tree stay healthy and shapes the tree according to the homeowner’s wishes.

First, pruning live branches from trees can be done any time of the year, however, it is best performed in late winter to early spring.  During cool temperatures, less threats such as insects and diseases will be present to attack the trees at the open wounds created by the pruning process.  By pruning in late winter or spring, the trees will be starting to break dormancy, thus pruning wounds will have a chance to callus over or heal before the trees begin moving sap upward to the branches.

Also, having the leaves removed during the dormant season allows us to see the branch structure and pick out problems that need to be corrected with pruning.  This is the time of year when we can be looking over our trees and making mental or physical notes as to what needs to be pruned later in the winter.

Also, we can be preparing our equipment. Good pruning starts with good, sharp pruning equipment that will make clean cuts.  Disinfecting pruning equipment with a bleach or alcohol solution in between trees is always a good idea.

When cutting large, heavy branches, use the three-cut method to avoid stripping the tree’s bark when a heavy branch lets loose and drops before being cut completely through.  The three-cut method involves cutting up from the bottom of the heavy branch about 8 inches to a foot from the tree trunk and then making a downward cut three to six inches further out on the branch.  If the branch snaps under its own weight, the bark stripping will only go as far as the upward cut.

Then, the third cut is made to remove the remaining stub at the trunk by cutting just outside the branch collar with a single cut.  The branch collar is that wrinkle of bark surrounding a branch attachment to the trunk.  Keeping cuts outside the collar will minimize the size of the wound and speed the healing process.

Remove all dead branches from the tree.  Dead wood can be removed any time of the year as the attachment point is usually already sealed off and will not expose live tissue to diseases and insects.  Only remove approximately 10 percent of a tree’s live tissue in any one year.  Any dead wood that is removed does not count toward your 10 percent.

A tree should have one true leader at the top.  If your young tree has a fork at the top, pick what appears to be the healthiest, strongest branch to keep and prune out the other.  Also, look for branches that are rubbing on each other and prune out one of the branches.  Branches that are broken, have old wounds or visible disease problems such as soft, watery areas known as cankers, should be removed.

Also, look for branches with weak or narrow attachment points.  Branches with an angle to the main trunk of less than 40 degrees are good candidates for pruning as those branches will always have a weak attachment point and be the most likely to snap under ice and snow loads or in strong winds.

Your thumb and pinky finger make good examples for determining good and poor branch angles.   A branch with an angle similar to your thumb’s angle off of your hand would be a branch with a good, strong attachment.  A branch with an angle similar to your pinky would be considered to have a narrow, weak attachment and could snap easily.

Avoid “topping” trees by simply trimming all the upper branches off from the ends.  Topping decreases the aesthetics of the tree and stimulates growth of a number of weakly attached branches.

Remember, only cut out about 10 percent of the live tissue in any one year.  Some neglected trees may require two or three years of pruning to make the necessary changes.

Finally, we should know our limits and leave difficult or potentially dangerous pruning projects to professionals.

For more pruning information go online to https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/c550.pdf  and read K-State’s publication All About Pruning.

Holiday Plants

By Kylee Harrison

Did you receive a plant for the holidays, and now you are wondering how to care for it?  Here are some popular holiday plants and basic care information.

The cyclamen is an attractive plant with heart shaped leaves often with white markings. The abundant flowers look like shooting stars and range from white to pink to red. Not only does the plant come loaded with bloom, but there are many buds capable of producing extended color for three to four months. When you get the plant give it a spot with indirect light and a cool location, 50-60 degrees.  This is key to extending the flowering period as warmer temperatures result in buds failing to open.

A Christmas Cactus is adds a bright pop of color to your room.  They are easy to care for and can be grown indoors throughout the year.  The flowers range in color from yellow, salmon, pink, fuchsia and white or combinations of those colors. The Christmas cactus can be enjoyed not only during the holidays but will remain attractive far into the New Year.

An Amaryllis is another popular holiday plant.  Botanically called Hippeastrum, meaning “horse star,” an amaryllis is easy to grow. Its bulbs are nearly the size of grapefruit and the larger the bulbs, the larger the flowers. Bulbs are sold pre-planted in starter kits. They come in a loose planting mix in pots only slightly larger than the bulb itself. The bulb is positioned halfway out of the soil.  To start, water thoroughly, allow to drain and don’t water again until growth begins. The first sign of growth will be the flower bud itself as the foliage won’t develop until the flowers are opening.  Once bud growth is visible, put plants on a routine. Keep soil moist, provide at least half day of bright light, and fertilize once a month. Stems grow rapidly to 12-24 inches and will produce a sequence of blooms that last about a month.

The most famous Christmas plant to gift is a Poinsettia.  They do well in the home and keep their color until mid-March. The plant you choose should have dark green foliage. Light green leaves or damaged leaves indicate poor handling or fertilization, lack of water or a root disease problem. The colorful flower bracts of red, pink, white or bicolor pink and white should be in proportion to the plant and pot size.

Often holiday plants that you purchase from a store have the decorative foil around the pot.  If the plant comes with a decorative foil wrapper, punch holes in the bottom of the foil to allow water to drain when you water. Never allow the plant to wilt. Keep the soil uniformly moist.

Designing Yards for Nature

By Ron Honig, Horticulture and Agronomy Agent

I listened to an interesting presentation last week from Douglas W. Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware.

Professor Tallamy’s mission is to stop the decline of wildlife species through the reintroduction of native plant species on which wildlife thrive.  What is interesting about his approach is that he is not calling for large government programs to provide these native plant species, but rather individual homeowners.  He is calling on amateur gardeners with unused lawn space to look for ways to introduce more native plants back into the microenvironments we call our yards.

The decline of pollinator insects has been well documented.  Tallamy illustrates one study showing four species of bumblebees that have declined 96 percent in the last twenty years.

In his presentation, Tallamy said there are approximately 40 million acres of yards in the United States, an area greater than many of our national parks combined.  His mission and dream are to see a large percentage of that yard acreage be transformed from lawn grass to native trees and flowering plants that support an array of native insects, birds and mammals.  The native plants being returned to our yards will vary, of course, depending on our location in U.S.

Tallamy gave examples of the importance of oak trees for supporting wildlife across the nation.  He talked about a study using cameras to count the number of caterpillars mother chickadees use to feed a nest of chicks to maturity – 6,240 to 9,120 caterpillars, and then what plant species support caterpillars.  His vision is to have ordinary people transform a portion of the roughly 76 percent of privately-owned land in the U.S. back into natural areas supporting wildlife.

The flipside to much of this thinking is understanding that nature is not always pristine in appearance.  In order for birds to feed their young on caterpillars, we must allow the caterpillars to survive in our yards, which means feeding on something for a while before being eaten.  Important to this concept are the reduction of insecticide and fertilizer use in our yards.  Some beauty and control have to be given up for Tallamy’s idea to work.  That becomes an individual decision for each homeowner.

Tallamy’s ideas do not completely eliminate the use of non-native species in our yards, but rather to see the value of adding back some native plants though they may not be as showy and colorful as our other flowers and shrubs.

For the millions of urban/suburban acres in the U.S., Tallamy’s ideas certainly make sense.  For us gardeners in the western, rural areas, we only have to drive to the edge of town to see native plants for as far as the eye can see.  However, there are a number of regionally native plants that can bring new colors, forms and textures to our landscapes without giving up the beauty many homeowners strive for in their yards.  More information on those plant options will come later.

Professor Tallamy has written a bestselling book on this topic entitled Nature’s Best Hope, published by Timber Press.  It is widely available for purchase and I have a copy in the Extension office for anyone to look through as well.

Professor Tallamy’s parting thought is that we should not try to change the whole world but just the little part in which we control.  Certainly, interesting reading and food for thought.