Wisteria is a spectacular and fast growing climber

Looking for a hardy climbing plant?

If a tough climber is what you need then Wisteria definitely fits the bill. Right now the purple flowers of Wisteria plants are on show throughout Melbourne. The eight species of twining Wisteria are native to China, Japan and Eastern USA. I have to admit I'm not sure which one is the type that is common here though I suspect it may be of Chinese origin (Wisteria sinensis). It is a deciduous plant that develops flowers in spring which are followed by foliage. The foliage is all gone by the time the cooler weather arrives. This makes it a handy plant to grow on a pergola or similar structure where it can provide shade in the warmer months and light in the cooler ones.

Caring for your Wisteria plants

Wisteria is such a tough plant there really isn't much advice I terms of plant care. I've seen it grow in all sorts of conditions and it always seems to do fine. It does like a sunny position and they say that the roots like to be kept cool if possible. This usually isn't a problem as the plant shades its base in the warmer months as that is when it grows its flowers / leaves.  The basic points of feeding the plant when it is in its growth phase and watering it when the weather dries up applies to Wisteria although I wouldn't call it a high water use plant. Wisteria can sucker and layer so you want to also keep an eye on that or you may have Wisteria growing all over the place.

Pruning Wisteria

The main problem you will probably run into with Wisteria is keeping its growth in check. Wisteria is a really fast grower and I'm always amazed to see how long the new growth is when it comes time to prune it. Speaking of pruning I use a pretty simple method where I just cut back the new lateral growth down to about 15cm (or close to that length as I cut above a budding point). Next year I'll do another more detailed blog entry this pruning method.

The glorious flowers of a Wisteria plant in bloom.

Below this Wisteria is growing on a frame which shades the area below in the warmer months and lets light through in the cooler months.

Wisteria trained onto wires providing an attractive wall covering.

How to create and maintain a lavender hedge

How to grow & care for a lavender hedge

 

There are several reasons why people desire to have hedges in their gardens. Privacy, wind breaks, linear definition, ornamental purposes and probably several others that don't immediately come to mind. Lavender ticks most of those boxes though its short stature probably renders it less useful for creating privacy. That being said for what it lacks in stature it more than makes up for in perfume as there aren't many other hedge plants that have such a strong scent. This article goes through the process of planting a lavender hedge from seedlings and how to care for it until it reaches the desired size.

1. What variety of lavender should you choose for your hedge?
That's right there is more than one type of lavender you can use for creating a hedge. The basic two types are English and French however there are now several new types in nurseries with more showy flowers. Most of the new types I have seen tend to be more closely related to French lavender and should be cared for the same way. For more information on the differences between French and English lavender click here to see another blog entry I've written on the subject.

2. Choosing a location for the hedge.
Lavender is not an incredibly fussy plant but It does like sun and I wouldn't grow it in a very shady spot so don't plant it against a south facing wall (or a north facing wall if you are in the northern hemisphere). The other good things about lavender is that it is fairly drought tolerant so irrigation may not be required depending on your local environment. As an example I only really water my lavender at home in the very hottest part of summer and it is growing just fine.

3. Soil preparation.
Even though lavender is not a fussy plant you might as well do some soil improvement before you plant unless your soil is already in fantastic shape. My reasoning behind this is that hedges are usually planted with the view that they will be there for a long time so if you don't improve the soil before planting you wont have the chance to do so in the near future. Lavender being of Mediterranean origin prefers slightly alkaline and free draining soil so mushroom compost is an ideal candidate for soil improvement. Dig some through the area and its sweetness will ensue more alkalinity and because it is compost it will improve soil structure and therefore increase drainage in clay soils (or conversely increase water holding capacity in sandy soils).

4. Spacing the plants.
Spacing is important when planting a hedge. The main point is that you don't want to space the plants too far apart as they may not grow wide enough to mesh together which is what hedging is all about. Planting them too close is not so much of an issue as it just means they will mesh together faster (but will be more expensive as you are using more plants). The plant tags that come with the seedlings you buy will specify the spread and height of the plant when full grown and you can use that information to figure out what spacing is required. Different lavenders have different widths so using the plant tag information is ideal but if you want a precise figure I suppose if you planted lavender with a spacing of about 40cm it would mesh together nicely.

A row of Avonview lavender that I planted for a client. I used 40cm spacing which should provide a fast meshing of the plants.

5. Planting out the seedlings.
Some basic rules I like to follow when planting out seedling are timing and watering in. In terms of timing I mean planting the lavender in early spring which gives it a good chance to put on some healthy early growth. Also as with planting out any small seedling, don't plant it out in extreme weather (either extremely hot or freezing frosty weather). Watering the hole you dig to plant the seedling and then the seedling in situ also ensures a happy seedling.

6. Feeding the seedlings.
Adding some pelletized chicken manure after planting is a good idea to ensure adequate plant nutrition. Once established I would feed the plants every year when the weather starts to warm up and again a couple of months later.

7. Tip pruning the plants.
People have different ideas about when to first prune lavender plants. I like to let the little seedlings establish for some time before I give them their first pruning. I wait until I notice that the plants have put on some growth (say 25% of their starting size) then prune them back by about 10%. The first pruning I tip prune the entire plant to encourage more branches to develop all over the plant. After that I wait until the plants have put on more growth then after that I tip prune the top of the plant which has the effect of making the sides kick out. Keep doing this until the sides mesh together and form a rough hedge. After that I wait for more growth then I prune the hedge to a desired shape.

8. Shaping and maintaining the hedge.
Keeping your hedge trimmed to a desired shape is easily achieved if you keep on top of things but you may get to a stage where the hedge has vastly outgrown its desired form. From there you will need to cut back the hedge back to the desired shape. If you have let the grow too much the hedge may look very woody after this heavy pruning. If you have English lavender do not prune back to the point where you see no leaves and only woody stems as it probably will not grow back. French lavender and most of the new style French variants can be pruned back quite far and still come back. The rule I follow is that I cut back as far as I can so long as I see at least some leaves (often tiny) and no further. So far I haven't killed a lavender hedge by following this principle.

 French lavender hedging I maintain in desperate need of trimming.  You can see the shape is starting to degrade so the next time I prune this hedge I'll cut it back quite hard.

How to prune a rose bush

How to prune your rose plants

Winter pruning;

For standard roses the best time to prune (in Melbourne) is late winter when the plant is dormant. I pruned my roses a few weeks prior to writing this blog entry.

Why do you need to prune roses?

• To remove weak spindly growth and direct energy to stronger braches and therefore give a larger flower size.

• To remove dead or diseased branches which can harbour pests and disease.

• To direct the growth of the plant outwards to produce the classic vase like shape of a rose bush and also increase ventilation by eliminating inward crossed over branches

• To shorten back last seasons growth by two thirds or maybe a little more to encourage regeneration and keep a more compact shape

Making the cut;

So you are ready to make your first cut. You will need a sharp set of secateurs and if you want to get really thorough you can sterilize the blade(s) with some Alcohol or bleach. Sterilizing them can help prevent the spread of diseases. Commonly it is taught that you need to make an angled cut 5mm above an outward facing bud. You want to cut to an outward facing bud to direct growth outwards and create what is known as a vase shape.

 Cutting 5mm above the bud is important as it prevents die back. Die back occurs to all the stem above the last bud which you cut to which is why a close cut matters

The theory behind why an angled cut is necessary is that an angled cut directs water away from the bud. Some people have told me they don't believe in angled cuts as they increase the size of the plants vascular plumbing and therefore encourages water to pool in the vascular entry points. Personally I don't worry too much about the angle and concentrate more on the position of the cut in relation to the bud.

The last point I will make is that if using bypass secateurs you want to cut with the blade facing towards the part of the stem you want to keep and the anvil facing the direction of the part of the stem you are going to discard (see picture below). This is to prevent bruising the stem / bud.

Summer pruning (dead heading);

Which is essentially dead heading old spent flowers from the rose bush. If you do not dead head the flowers then a rose hip will develop from below the spent flower. This has the effect of suppressing further flower bud development. I've always been told that when pruning off the old flowers you should go down to what is known as a five leaf set. People have told me that if you do that you should get new flowers appearing from the bud which develops from the base of the five leaf set. I'm not sure whether the science supports that theory but it was worked for me in the past. As I'm writing this during winter I can't provide any pictures for this procedure but I will write an entry in the Summer which includes pictures to help you understand this method.

Picture of a rose bush during mid - late winter in Melbourne. More specifically it is in the garden of my main workplace (one of many) which is the college called International House (Melbourne University). This is the 'before shot'.

Hopefully you can see important things in the picture below. The first is that I have the blade of the secateurs positioned on the side of the stem I want to keep and the anvil on the side of the stem I will discard. The second thing that I hope you can identify is the little bud which I'm aiming to cut roughly 5mm above.

This is the 'after shot'. It looks bare now but will look fantastic once it has new growth and flowers.

After a few weeks that little bud you pruned above should be putting out new growth like the one in the picture below which is a rose bush in my home garden. This particular but looks a bit rough maybe I should have sharpened my secateurs before pruning.

1st attempt at pruning my apple tree (spur pruning)

Last year I was set the assignment of writing an assignment on pruning apple trees. I wrote it and handed it in and since then I have been waiting for winter to prune my own apple tree at home. Pruning apple trees is not something I've had any experience in so I'm hoping that the tree will respond in a positive way. Other tasks I have left to complete are feeding the tree (which I will do once it breaks out of dormancy) and netting it to keep the birds away from the fruit. If I can manage to complete those last two tasks I should have lots of apples come summer. Listed below are pruning instructions from my pruning assignment and also some before and after pictures of my tree.

SPUR PRUNING INSTRUCTIONS

Winter pruning;

The main pruning is done during winter when the tree is dormant. Tasks for winter pruning include;

• Removing branches that do not conform to the shape of the tree (ill directed branches pointing inwards rather that outwards are an example)

• Removing week spindly branches to allow more energy to be concentrated on the strong branches

• Removing dead or diseased wood which may promote or harbour certain pests or diseases

• Thinning crowded growth to improve ventilation and light penetration through to lower branches.

• Shortening back last seasons growth by two thirds to encourage spurs to form and to keep these close to the main branch.

Summer pruning;

Summer pruning can also be performed which involves

• Picking out water shoots to allow energy to be directed to more established fruiting spurs

• Pinching the growth tips of over vigorous lateral branches to concentrate the trees energy to the fruiting spurs

Spur pruning a lateral branch;

This is done on an established tree where formative pruning is already complete. The purpose of spur pruning is to enhance the fruit production yield rate by concentrating the trees energy on its fruiting buds rather than letting it grow longer branches. Done correctly it should increase the amount of fruit and the size of the fruit.

The way to do this pruning is to shorten the lateral shoots to three or four buds for shoot. Also the main leader of the branch should be shortened to half of the growth produced during the previous year. As always try to prune to an outwards facing bud to maintain an attractive and functional shape. Below is a drawing showing how you would prune a spur-bearing fruit tree branch.      

Below is my illustration of spur pruning

The apple tree prior and post pruning. Notice all those upright twigs at the top of the tree. I think they are what they call water shoots.