Prune and prepare until after the big freeze By Jennifer Sheridan Palestine Herald-Press
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ow is the time to start pruning for early growth, according to local Master Gardener Pam Denson. She specializes in leafy plants, such as lettuce, spinach and kale. Denson lives in the Brushy Creek area, where she grows her personal garden. She also helps teach students at Elkhart about raised-bed gardens. Pruning helps stimulate new growth. Stems and leaves can be pruned to take off the winter freeze and old growth. Denson warns against pruning too early. “A lot of times the plant is hit by the winter freeze that is actually protecting the tender growth beneath it,” Denson said. “So there may be live plants underneath the protection, and if you take all of that dead stuff
off the top, you’re now going to have more freeze damage because you’ve removed the blanket.” One of the many plants usually pruned back in February is rose bushes. Denson has a knockout rose bush that she prunes back to about two feet. She said the bush can grow up to six feet during the summer and is well established after four years of being on her property. The placement of the bush is ideal because it is on the south side of her property where it is protected. Denson teaches that placement plays an important role in growth. “You want to watch out for having roses placed in the middle of a field where it could be hit by an ice storm,” Denson says. “If it’s placed on the south side where it’s going to get plenty of sunlight, you have wonderful growth. You just have to think about all of those things.” Another thing to consider this time of year is if you plan on putting in a hardscape, Denson
explains. Creating a hardscape entails putting in a new bed or creating a new space. “This is the time that is great for that,” Denson continues. “It’s cool weather to do that kind of construction stuff. That way it is in and ready to go for that first shipment of plants you’ve been dying to put in. This is kind of our preparation season.” Preparation for the new season happens in January and February, as growers await the last hard freeze, usually about March 15. Soil preparation also begins in February. Aspects such as bed preparation require gardeners to decide whether to add organic material or not. Denson suggests tilling the organic matter into the soil and adding mulch to tender plants. “The area has received a fairly mild winter until recently. However, it’s never too late to do it. It is actually going to be good for your soil as well, because it will decompose into the soil,” Denson added. Gardeners considering planting bare-root fruit plants or roses, need to transfer the plant since it is currently in the dormant stage. It shocks less during this time. “We usually have pretty good winter rains, so that’s another advantage right now,” Denson said. “It’s in place and growing. Even before it puts out shoots, it’s going to have roots. So it will be more capable of handling our stressful season, which is summer.” She explained that the winter season kills growth in plants in the northern part of the U.S., but here in Texas, it is the harsh summer heat that stops growth. Denson said, in her experience, East Texas receives more rain than most places in Texas. “It’s really true for all of Texas,” Denson said. “Because we are in the south, our heat tends to be our stressor. Comparatively, our winters are fairly mild.” Denson shared a couple of pages from the Texas Gardeners Magazine with specific growth information on several different plants. While looking at the list of plants, she jokingly pled for people not to try to grow dahlias
because they require a chill time, which becomes a “true labor of love.” Likewise, she said tulips, while beautiful, are the same way. “Tulips are fabulous, but for us they are a labor of love,” Denson explained. “You have to keep them in your refrigerator for the chill time and you plant them. Then they bloom once. Then the gophers eat them or they rot.” She went on to say that if you are dedicated to keeping tulips alive after the bloom, dig up the bulb and return it to the refrigerator in preparation for the next season. She called gardeners willing to pamper the plant “amazing,” but stated there are many other natural bulb plants she would use instead of keeping bulbs in her refrigerator. She went back to the magazine and said the publication puts out planting-guide dates for specific vegetables twice a year. Denson said Anderson County is located in Zone 4 according to the map. Most of our vegetables need to be plants by Feb. 15. “These are general guidelines. If you miss that date by a week or so, nobody is going to die,” Denson said with
a laugh. The book suggests planting leafy vegetables because the plants need to be started in the cooler weather. “They like like cool weather, because when it gets too warm, they bolt. They are going to put on a head and die. Other than kale, which is a perennial, all of your lettuce, cabbage and turnips are all cool-weather vegetables. Then when we get into the heat, depending on how early our bigtime heat is (usually the end of April or May), they are done. They will let you know it by putting on bloom spikes,” Denson said. Other tips Denson gave included not fertilizing until after March and pulling winter weeds. She also said, while waiting on spring, to do maintenance on equipment, particularly the lawn mower. Denson also suggested gardeners obtain a copy of Doug Welch’s “Texas Gardener’s Almanac.” The book has monthly tips for gardeners of all types and specific information for Texas growers.
Published January 28, 2016