Carissa Holly Pruning

I finally pruned the Carissa hollies out by the mailbox. I wish I'd taken a before and after photo. By the time I was done I'd sort of forgotten what they'd looked like to start with! I did a lot of thinning cuts just like it describes them in my Master Gardener's manual and some heading cuts as well - being sure to look carefully for the buds. The buds seemed to be pretty far apart on these as far as I could tell. I think I could have waited until they greened up and pruned then, but I might have missed my window of opportunity by then.

Overall, I think I did a good job and am really getting a hang of this pruning thing. I removed a lot of plant material without significantly altering the actual outward appearance of the shrub. I also managed to reduce it in size a bit. Hopefully, this will keep it in a check another year. I've read that Carissa hollies are slow growing, so people plant them close together, but their ultimate size is actually fairly large. So that means that if you plant them close together to get a more full effect from the get go they are eventually going to require pruning to keep them in check. And that's what I was doing today.

I'd have to check my gardening diary, but I don't believe I've ever pruned these significantly before in the past - so this was the first time in 8+ years they've had a good haircut. I'm especially pleased that I didn't end up having to "hat-rack" them - as I've heard people say - and take them all the way down to just bare sticks and branches with no leaves. I think that would've taken them a long time to recover from.

One of the bushes behind the mailbox seems to have significant mite damage. I pruned some of that out, but there was quite a lot of it. The others seemed to be okay. Hopefully, it won't spread.

Maybe now that I've thinned out a lot of the branches and there will be more air circulation and sunlight they will be less prone to mites? I'm sure having a record setting drought last year didn't help!

I will try to remember to examine the plant's response to my pruning in a few weeks or whenever new growth sets in.

Next on the list is to order bamboo barrier, trim the bamboo back, root trim it, and install the barrier. And, cut back the striped liriope - which I always contemplate getting rid of or moving elsewhere.

Also, on the list, demolishing the wooden retaining walls and all the landscaping in the backyard for the new retaining walls. I'll definitely try and take some before and afters of that transformation!

Liriope Trimming

Today I finally got around to trimming the liriope. It took a while, but I mowed over it and was able to get most of the cuttings up with the mulching lawnmower. Tomorrow I'll add them to the compost pile.

Next on the list! Prune back the Carissa Hollies!

WOW! Plus Update

I'm stocking up again on WOW! Plus because they have what seems to amount to a 50% off coupon and I wanted to cut and paste this text from their webpage here for future reference:

"Apply 10-20 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. when forsythia starts to bloom, through July. This timing corresponds with the time when crabgrass begins and ends germinating. Yearly spring and fall applications at 10lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. provide as much as 85% weed control after two years and 91% after three years. Plus it provides balanced fertilization. Applications at 20lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. provide even better control, because the percentage of weed control increases with higher application rates."

I applied roughly 20# per 1,000 sq. ft. based on my calculations, so I was on the high end, but perhaps I'll get better weed control as a result.