Time to Prune, for some #2...

Cornus mas (Corneliancherry Dogwood) blooms in 
March and is pruned after flowering.

     Spring-flowering shrubs may need rejuvenation pruning, and the best time for that is right after they flower. If you prune a shrub before it blooms, you remove buds too soon and don’t get an opportunity enjoy those blooms. When you prune after blooming, you can still enjoy the flowers and the plant can recover, grow, and produce more buds for flowers next spring.
       Here's a  list of some common trees and shrub and when to prune them.

Trees and shrubs to prune in late winter/early spring while still dormant:

·        Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)

·        Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)

·        Flowering plum (Prunus blireana)

·        Glossy abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)

·        Golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata)

·        Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissiam)

·        Hydrangea, Peegee (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’)

·        Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa)

·        Spirea (except bridal wreath) (Spirea japonica))

Trees and Shrubs to prune in late spring/summer, after bloom

·        Azalea (Rhododendron species)

·        Beauty bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis)

·        Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana)

·        Bridal wreath spirea (Spirea x vanhouttei)

·        Flowering crabapple (Malus species and cultivars)

·        Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

·        Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia)

·        Hawthorn (Crataegus species and cultivars)

·        Hydrangea, Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla)

·        Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

·        Magnolia (Magnolia species and cultivars)

·        Mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius)

·        Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

·        Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

·        Rhododendron (Rhododendron species)

·        Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora)

·        Slender deutzia (Deutzia gracilis)

·        Weigela (Weigela florida)

·        Wisteria (Wistera species)

Time to Prune, for some...

This is "topping" a tree and NOT a way to prune trees.

Believe it or not, spring really is on the way. After a long, cold winter, many homeowners begin to turn their attention to their landscape. The winter months can be damaging to trees and shrubs. To ensure healthy spring plants, homeowners may want to prune the trees and shrubs around their home. But you shouldn’t just prune for the sake of pruning; make sure you have a valid reason.

Pruning during the late winter months allows you to remove damage caused by winter winds and precipitation.

Pruning also is a way to remove diseased, crowded or hazardous branches. When pruning trees, the size of the tree should not be reduced too much in one season. Limit the pruning amount to one-fourth of the tree’s volume. Start by thinning out branches by cutting them off close to the tree’s trunk or a large limb.

Leave the base of the branch, known as the collar, intact. Cutting the collar will prevent the plant from growing over the wound caused from pruning. Pruning in this manner allows for a healthy tree that is more open to sunlight and air movement. If the branch is cut back only part way, there will likely be a crowded regrowth of new branches where the cut was made. Do not seal or paint the wounds resulting from pruning, because this will only delay the tree’s healing process.

Spring-flowering shrubs may need rejuvenation pruning, and the best time for that is right after they flower. If you prune a shrub before it blooms, you remove buds too soon and don’t get an opportunity enjoy those blooms. When you prune after blooming, you can still enjoy the flowers and the plant can recover, grow, and produce more buds for flowers next spring.

For rejuvenation pruning you remove one-third of the shrub’s oldest growth. You need to select the thickest, darkest and unhealthiest stems or branches and cut them back. You should cut back stems to soil level and branches to the point of intersection with the shrub’s main trunk. This ensures that only the youngest, most productive wood (that which produces the most and best flowers) remains a part of the shrub. During early spring you can also prune shrubs that will bloom during the summer months.

Pruning is not limited to a certain time of year. You can prune at any time if you notice damaged branches and limbs. The process is invigorating for the plants in a home landscape so you shouldn’t necessarily think of pruning just as a means of size control.

If you have a plant that has grown out-of-bounds, pruning may not be the answer – you may need to consider replacing the plant with one that will reach a smaller size at maturity.

The Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service offers publications that can answer many of your pruning and other gardening and landscape questions. Online, http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ho/ho45/ho45.pdf offers information about pruning trees and http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ho/ho59/ho59.htm offers information about pruning shrubs. For more information, contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service at 270.765.4121 or www.hardinext.org or Amy.Aldenderfer@uky.edu.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

Tent Caterpillars are Hatching!

Tent Caterpillars are Hatching!!!!

    Eastern tent caterpillar egg hatch has started.

     "When temperatures are in the upper 70s most of the eggs hatch in eight to ten days, however, highs in the 50s can spread hatch out over a month," said Lee Townsend, Extension entomologist in the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture. "These caterpillars are basically inactive below 50 degrees so it's easy to see how great an effect temperature has on them."

     The tent caterpillar, which gets its name from the silken tent it constructs in tree branches, prefers wild cherry but also feeds on peach, apple, crabapple and other trees.

     A patient approach will allow any early natural control, such as heavy rains or freezes, to have an effect, and we need to keep in mind that treating too early can mean that additional applications may be needed.  Spraying will be most effective when the nests are established and the caterpillars are actively feeding.  Waiting until the nests are about the size of a baseball or softball should be about ideal. (NOW!)

    Natural enemies play an important role in reducing eastern tent caterpillar numbers in most years. Caterpillars are frequently parasitized by various tiny braconid, ichneumonid, and chalcid wasps. Several predators and a few diseases also help to regulate their populations. 

     Prevention and early control is important. Removal and destruction of the egg masses from ornamental and fruit trees during winter greatly reduces the problem next spring. In the early spring, small tents can be removed and destroyed by hand. Larger tents may be pruned out and destroyed or removed by winding the nest upon the end of a stick. Burning the tents out with a torch is not recommended since this can easily damage the tree.

Young caterpillars can be killed by applying an insecticide containing Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki. Larvae within the tents are protected beneath the webbing and are more difficult to kill with an insecticide.

Hardin County Extension Office (765-4121) www.hardinext.org is an excellent source of information on insect pest management, as well as the UK entomology department's web site at www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/enthp.htm.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar