Page 4 Friday, March 26, 2021
THE GARDEN ISLAND
www.thegardenisland.com
FEELING UNRULY As spring nears, houseplants feel it too and can become unmanageable cuts. Trace one of the tallest stems down to its origin, and cut it off right there. Perhaps do this No matter that winter winds with another tall stem too. and snow still come and go in After one or more drastic cuts much of the country. The sun’s have lowered the plant, go back earlier rising and higher climb over the plant to make some into the sky let us know that smaller cuts. Cut back any dead spring is on the way. Even or diseased stems, and any that houseplants indoors feel the look gawky or out of place. changing season. There are houseplants, such as Take a closer look at the stems dracaena and ponytail palm, that of your houseplants. Any young, naturally sport only one or very new leaves? Swelling buds? Inside few stems. These rarely need their pots, roots might likewise be pruning; when they do, it’s awakening. All of this makes because they’ve finally grown too today, tomorrow, or sometime tall. Lop back the stem to lower soon a good time for repotting than the final desired height. New and pruning. growth will appear near the cut, perhaps even a couple of new How tall is too tall? stems. If you want to keep the The most obvious reason to plant single-stemmed, remove all prune a houseplant’s stems is to but one of the emerging stems. keep the plant manageable. For example, growing in the ground in Check below ground also a tropical climate, branches of Pruning the stems of a weeping fig, a familiar houseplant, houseplant is just the first step. will reach skyward and spread as After a few years, depending on high and wide as a sugar maple’s. how fast a plant grows, roots will Indoors, at the very least, your fill a pot until they have no room ceilings limit the desired height of left to grow. Roots attempting to a houseplant. For looks, you escape out the drainage hole of a might want to keep the plant pot is one indication of smaller, perhaps much, much overcrowding. smaller. More telling is to have a look at When pruning the stems of a the root ball itself. Slide the root houseplant, the goal is to reduce ball out of the pot. If it’s a large its size without giving it a hacked- plant, the easiest way to do this is back look. For a plant with many to first tip the pot on its side. Are stems, such as a weeping fig, a the roots cramped together and circling around and around the few severe cuts usually gives outside edge of the root ball? better results than many small Lee Reich ASSOCIATED PRESS
If the roots are overcrowded, you could just move the plant to a larger pot. Of course, then it will grow even bigger, which may or may not be your wish. If the plant is to go back into its old home, root pruning is needed. Stand the plant upright and — brutal as it might seem — slice off the outer edge of soil and roots all around the root ball. The bigger the root ball, the more you can slice off. Stand the plant back in its old pot and pack new potting soil in the gaps between the shorn root ball and the container. Use a stick or your fingers to firmly press it in place. Water the plant, and it’s ready for spring. Not for every plant No need to prune and repot every houseplant every year. Many grow very slowly, so might need this treatment only every few years. And some plants -clivia and amaryllis, for example -grow in clumps rather than skyward-shooting stems, and actually do better with their roots cramped in their pots. ••• Lee Reich writes regularly about gardening for The Associated Press. He has authored a number of books, including “Weedless Gardening” and “The Pruning Book.” He blogs at http://www.leereich. com/blog. He can be reached at garden@leereich.com.
LEE REICH VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
A ponytail palm in New Paltz, NY. Cutting back the single stem of this plant to prevent it from growing too tall has coaxed it to send new stems all along the remaining trunk.
Home is where the heart is. US 30-year mortgage rates jump to 3.17%, highest since June ASSOCIATED PRESS McCLEAN, Va. — U.S. long-term mortgage rates jumped to their highest level since June, though still remain near historic lows. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 3.17% from 3.09% the previous week. One year ago, the benchmark rate stood at 3.5%. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans, popular among those seeking to refinance their mortgages, increased to 2.45% from 2.40% last week. It was 2.92% a year ago. Economists have expected modest increases in home-loan rates this year, though they likely will remain low while the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates near zero until the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Record-low lending rates have prodded buyers into the housing market, which has been one of the strengths of the U.S. economy. But a shortage in the supply of homes remains a problem and has pushed prices higher. Also Thursday, the government reported that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign that the economy is improving. It is the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have fallen below 700,000 since midMarch of last year.
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