Selwyn_Times: July 12, 2023

Wednesday July 12 2023 Selwyn Times
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
GARDENING 29
How to prune conifers into shape
ALONG WITH ferns and
cycads, conifers have a longer
history than most garden plants.
In the evolutionary scale
they lie between the ferns and
the flowering plants, and it is
probably the remoteness of
their ancestry that makes them
so strikingly different from
flowering trees.
While horticulture tends to
favour deciduous flowering
trees, conifers with their distinct
foliage, growth habit, and colours
make a valuable contribution to
any garden setting especially at
this time of the year.
Conifers range in size from
low ground hugging plants to the
tallest of all living things. Over
the years, along with the natural
occurring species, selected
garden forms have provided a
huge range of shapes, textures
and colours with enough
variation to suit most plantlovers
palates.
Growth rates vary significantly
with some assuming tree-like
proportions in only a matter
of years and others can be
extremely slow growing.
Some confers have
foliage when young that is
different from the mature
tree, macrocarpa, Cupressus
macrocarpa and our own rimu
Dacrydium cupressinum are
good examples of this while
the Bhutan cypress, Cupressuss
cashmeriana is a standout simply
because of its delightful growth
habit.
Conifers can be pruned and
trimmed back successfully but
others resent anything other
than the lightest clipping and
for most, if cut back beyond
any living foliage, they will die.
If you want to have a special
contrasting shape in your shrub
border choose a conifer that
assumes that shape naturally. to
pruning conifers, there are a few
simple rules to follow.
The most important is to
choose the right species or
variety of conifer for your garden
and to plant it in a location to
meet its growing needs.
When pruning is required, the
general rule is not to trim back
past the green growth to bare
wood as they will not recover.
However, there are exceptions.
Most species of juniper, yew and
redwood will re-sprout from
bare branches.
You can check before pruning
by looking for any signs of
growth sprouting further back
along the older wood.
Some conifers will form great
hedges, coping well with being
trimmed back regularly with
hedging shears.
However, to emphasise
the natural form and beauty
that many conifers have, it is
much better, when necessary,
to surreptitiously prune with
secateurs.
Branches of columnar conifers
can splay out – this effect can be
prevented with regular pruning
to reduce weight from the
branches, but if it does occur you
can trim the branch back lightly
then discretely tie the splaying
branch back to the main trunk.
Dead or damaged patches
are often hard to remedy, but it
may be possible by first pruning
out the dead or damaged wood
then training neighbouring
branches to fill the gap by tying
and retying them into position
as they grow. Another beneficial
task is the regular removal of
old plant debris, which can
accumulate inside the plant. This
will create a healthier plant by
letting air and light penetrate as
well as improving their overall
appearance.
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