Extension office offers tips on tree pruning

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Late winter and early spring before bud break is a good time to prune fruit trees and many ornamental shrubs. You need sharp tools for pruning success, so winter is a great time to clean and sharpen the blades on pruners, loppers and saws. Sharp tools make early season pruning easier on you and the plants. Precise cuts allow plants to heal the wound more efficiently and reduce the chance for plant disease infection. Serrated pruning saw blades are a little tougher to sharpen because of the numerous teeth, equipment needed and tedious attention to detail. If you are not a DIY aficionado this may be a job for a professional.

The purpose of pruning is to guide a plant to a desired growth habit or structure. Each tree or shrub has recommended growth habits for particular purposes. For example, many apple tree growers prefer a central leader or traditional triangular growth habit, broader at the base and narrow at the top. A peach tree grower might prefer the open center growth habit which is an open bowl shape without a central main leader.

The growth habit of a multistemmed shrub may require pruning to control plant height or removal of older stems to promote new stems for enhanced flowering. Improved light and air circulation reduce the chance for fungal disease infection. Some older neglected plants may require renovation pruning by cutting them back near the ground to reestablish a desirable growth habit.

There are two basic pruning cuts – heading and thinning.

Thinning cuts are the most commonly used. A thinning cut is intended to remove an undesirable branch back to its point of origin at either a side lateral branch or a main trunk. Heading cuts remove tips or portions of a single branch.

Heading cuts should be used judiciously since they stimulate the awakening of dormant buds on branches. This results in numerous side branching and thickening of foliage. If you are trying to open the interior of a shrub to allow more light penetration and air circulation, heading cuts are not the best choice.

Start by removing any dead, damaged or diseased branches. These can be removed any time on the subject, but was trying to ascertain her constituent’s opinion so she could best represent their wishes. This question alone ignited a flurry of relentless, unjustified name calling and attributed words to Ms. Allen that were not spoken by her. Even more distressing, it is rumored that the

School Board intends to vote to censure Ms. Allen at their March 14 meeting. If we, the citizens of Goochland County, don’t stand up and put an immediate stop to this damaging behavior, ultimately, we will find ourselves in jeopardy of losing the very precious rights our country has fought so long to preserve.

Jane Polk and Robert Gathright Goochland

of year. Water sprouts and root sprouts are thin flimsy stems that grow vertically on top of lateral branches or roots as if they are trying to reach for the sun. These are weak stems that will never enhance the structure of the tree and should be removed. Remove any crossing branches or branches that are rubbing on each other. Likewise remove any downward growing branches and those with narrow crotch angles less than 45 degrees. To see examples and fine tune your pruning decisions, extension publication resources are available for most tree and shrub species along with pruning calendars. For a start, see the following web link: https://extension.umd. edu/resource/pruning-tree-andshrub-basics.

Have a question about a plant, insect or soil? The Goochland Extension Office is here to help! Give them a call at (804) 556-5842 and speak with either Bob or Nicole. Drop-ins are welcome at the office at 2748 Dogtown Road between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

submitted by the Goochland extension Office.

misgivings and how they could have forced Murdaugh to resort to such an unthinkable act. Believing that it was done as a distraction is a journey too far for many watching the trial, covered almost gavel to gavel on several internet and streaming media sources.

By Murdaugh’s own admission, he’s swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients in his role as an attorney for the past decade or so. After obtaining large settlements for many of these dirt poor clients, Murdaugh kept most of the generous settlements awarded by what outsiders describe as a friendly legal system infested with a good ole boy factor that dominated the system in this economically depressed section of the state.

Having watched little of the actual testimony, I couldn’t predict an outcome and I had even less inclination as to Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence. But, several chapters of the confused, misguided story have tweaked my interest.

It seemed odd to me that all of these financial misdeeds were undetected for years until local media began digging after Murdaugh’s son and victim, Paul, was charged in a 2019 boat wreck that claimed the life of a 19-year old woman named Mallory Beach. Many of the duped clients were unaware that any deception had occurred, clueless to the amount of the awards and funds that were supposed to be paid to them.

That was partially due to the prominent nature of the Murdaugh family, who possessed a position as Low Country royalty with a history of public service. Both Alex’s father and grandfather had served as solicitor general for the district, and their descendant served in the same role as a volunteer assistant.

Yes, it’s a convoluted tale of greed, wealth and privilege in a state where politics are notoriously corrupt. It has captured the latest attention of court watchers probably still catching their breath after the Johnny Depp trial. Who knows what’s next.

But, for Alex Murdaugh, after six weeks of testimony, three documentaries, numerous television specials and hours of news coverage, the jury gave the final verdict, finding him guilty of the heinous crime of double murder. He has now been sentenced to consecutive life sentences without parole.

Even if he hadn’t been found guilty, Murdaugh still faced more than 90 financial fraud charges and an insurance fraud case. Shortly after the murders of his family, he attempted to hire a man to shoot him so the surviving son would receive a huge death benefit.

It leaves the rest of us asking how could this type of corruption go on for years with no one noticing or maybe not even realizing the sleazy nature of the participants.

I have no answer for that convoluted question, but there’s no doubt the whole episode gives new meaning to the term low country.