Don Davis: Pruning for fall season

Pruning in fall is a popular pastime. It is often necessary after a wet growing season like we had last spring.

Hollies and other hedge plants may have as much as three feet of new growth on their stems. You can trim them now to control their size and keep them looking tidy.

Trimming is done with hedge clippers, hand shears or even loppers. If your hollies are so large they require a chainsaw, reserve that kind of heavy pruning for next year toward the end of winter.

Pruning a butterfly bush involves a minimum of effort: you simply cut the whole plant down to a height of six inches. This radical treatment gives you larger flowers which the butterflies really appreciate.

Pruning in fall, winter or spring is suitable for butterfly bush. Handle this plant with care and cut off its spent flowers before seeds are formed whenever possible. Unwanted butterfly bush seedlings could start showing up in your yard if the seeds get around.

Crape myrtles with sprouts at the base are a problem if you want a tree instead of a bush. Cut these sprouts down to the ground in fall or any other season, as soon as you see them.

Other timely pruning for crape myrtles is to cut back the tips of branches a foot or so, just enough to remove seed pods. Many of these plants have attractive bark which is more visible if you remove a few lower branches.

Moderation is the key when pruning crape myrtles in fall. Research at the University of Georgia found that pruning them in autumn reduced their cold hardiness.

The time most widely recommended for crape myrtle pruning is late winter and early spring. You can cut them back freely then without risking freeze injury.

Roses are pruned lightly in fall. Your goal is to first of all cut out and dispose of branches killed by rose cane borers, canker disease or other causes.

Next you shorten the tall vertical stems on hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas. Cut them to waist or chest height, to keep them from breaking in winter storms.

Knockout is a shrub or landscape rose needing very little attention in fall. Its leaves turn an attractive purplish red color as cold weather sets in, and you can see them best if you deadhead the rose and get rid of the seed pods.

Boxwoods can be pruned in fall with a practice called thinning. It involves removing selected branches to allow light to penetrate into the center of the plant to encourage fresh new leaf growth next year.

Reducing the size of boxwoods is done by another technique called heading back. It takes away larger amounts of wood and works best toward the end of winter.

Davis is an Extension Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension. He can be reached by calling 455-3740.