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| Q. How do I prune my palms? |
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| A. Over winter, some
of our tender palms got nipped, leaving brown tips and edges. We
want to clean them up, but we want to avoid pruning too heavily.
Look at the palm’s natural shape. The top fronds are pointing
up. As we come down the tree, fronds begin to sag, almost touching
the trunk. It’s okay to remove some of these lower fronds.
But to avoid stressing the plant or altering its natural shape,
we want to stop when they’re at about a 90-degree angle, or
a horizontal orientation, on the trunk.
With the prunings from the lower fronds, consider using them as
a shady lean-to for new garden transplants or to make a “secret
hideout” for the kids.
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<<view past Questions of the Week |
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 Thryallis
(Galphimia glauca)
Thryallis is a great heat tolerant plant for xeriscape gardens.
It is tolerant of a wide variety of soils as long as they are
well drained. A semi-tender shrub, thryallis often dies back
in winter, returning in spring to reach a height of 4-6 feet.
It blooms late summer to fall, with yellow flower spikes that
attract butterflies. It has no significant pest and disease
problems. It blooms best in full sun, but will tolerate a little
shade. Plants make nice individual specimens or may be massed
and sheared into a low hedge or planted in a large container.
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<<view past Plants
of the Week
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- Time to finish planting warm season vegetables like squash,
green beans, okra, and sweet potatoes.
- Once again, if you’re having blossom end rot with tomatoes,
the secret is to keep the soil evenly moist early in the season,
and provide a calcium spray if necessary. Generally the first
group of tomatoes is most prone.
- When mowing the lawn, keep the mower blades as high as possible.
This will help cut back on weeds and water. Leaving clippings
returns nutrients to the soil. It’s better to mow often,
and high, than to scalp the yard on an occasional basis.
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<< more Planting Tips |
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