Leucophyllum frutescens

The Importance of Proper Shrub Pruning

Arizona garden, AZ Plant Lady Classes, California desert garden, desert gardening, Landscape Problems, Nevada garden, Pruning, Shrubs

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take another photo of a landscape I passed by in a neighborhood where I had just finished up a landscape consultation. I was shocked at the mushroom shaped shrubs.

The Pitfalls of Shrub Pruning Mistakes

Sadly, I often see examples of truly ‘interesting’ or should I say ‘bad’ pruning. I drove by this landscape and then made a U-turn so that I could take a quick photo…

Shrub pruning

I don’t know about you, but these Texas sage shrubs look like mushrooms, don’t you think?

Sadly, pruning these beautiful flowering shrubs this way robs them of their flowers, increases maintenance, creates dead wood, and shortens their life.

Misguided Pruning in Strange Shapes

While there are quite a few shrubs that take well to repeated formal pruning – doing this to flowering shrubs should be avoided.

I must admit that I have seen Texas sage and other flowering shrubs pruned into many different shapes…

But, let me be frank – shrubs aren’t meant to be cupcakes, frisbees, or gumdrops

Why You Should Avoid Improper Shrub Pruning

Here are just a few reasons why…

1. Energy Deprivation

It removes the leaves needed for the shrub to make energy for itself

2. Increased Growth and Maintenance

Excessive pruning actually makes your shrubs grow faster, which equals MORE maintenance

3. Water Demands

Shrubs pruned often require more water as they constantly work to replace foliage lost

4. Shortened Lifespan

Continued shearing will shorten the lifespan of your shrubs

5. Aesthetic Impact

Green ‘blobs’ are ugly compared to beautiful flowering shrubs

Join Our Online Shrub Pruning Workshop

If you are tired of the time and money it takes to maintain flowering shrubs the ‘wrong’ way. I invite you to join me in my online shrub pruning workshop where I will teach you the right way to prune.

Imagine your outdoor space filled with beautiful, flowering shrubs instead of green ‘balls’. Believe it or not, the shrubs in the photo above are the SAME plant – they have just been maintained differently. The one on the left takes much more money and time and the other thrives with pruning once (or twice) a year.

In my online class, I show you how to work with your landscaper or how you can take care of your shrubs yourself. Got ‘green balls’ already in your landscape? I’ll teach you how to rejuvenate them and the best time of year to do it.

So, ditch the ‘green blobs’ in your yard and learn how to prune with confidence – it’s much easier than you think. Learn more here and what students have to say about the class.

Fuzzy Flowers and Sunscreen….

AZ Plant Lady, desert gardening, Shrubs, Southwest garden

I absolutely love spring. Some years, spring never arrives. Sometimes spring goes missing and winter turns right into summer. But not this year. We have had beautiful weather and I have enjoyed being outdoors.

But, all good things must come to an end. Now don’t get me wrong. I do like the summer, but you will find me inside much more often then outside. Sometimes I wonder if some of my plants would rather be inside enjoying the air-conditioning.

Did you know that May and June are the most stressful months for plants in the desert southwest? Well, it is. Although the hot summer temperatures cool down in the evening, the daytime heat coupled with the extreme dryness of our climate is quite stressful for plants. When the monsoon season arrives in July, the increased humidity and rain bring relief to the plants.

So, what is a plant to do when it cannot escape indoors from the heat? Well, I would love to show you one example of what some shrubs do to deal with the dry heat.

To really see what I am talking about, look closely at the photo below…

love spring

Can you see it? Can you tell what helps to protect the flowers from the sun?

Hint: Look at the little hairs on the petals.

Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) and all other Leucophyllum species have tiny hairs on their flowers, stems and their leaves, which help to deflect the sun’s rays and helps to reduce the amount of water lost to the air. It is these tiny hairs that give the leaves a gray-green color.

Drive down any street in the Desert Southwest and you will see these beautiful shrubs throughout the residential landscape.

Even though I have worked as a horticulturist for over 10 years, I am still amazed at how plants adapt to their environment.

By the way, you may be thinking that I took these close-up photos to show the tiny hairs covering the blossoms, but actually, my goal was to show how beautiful the flower was. It was only after I downloaded the pictures that I saw the tiny hairs.

It makes you wonder what else you may find just by taking close-up pictures of plants….

Shrubs Aren’t Meant To Be Cupcakes, Frisbees, or Pill Boxes

Arizona garden, AZ Plant Lady, AZ Plant Lady Classes, California desert garden, desert gardening, Landscape No-No, Las Vegas gardening, Nevada garden, Pruning, Shrubs

The Pitfalls of Improper Pruning: A Tale of Flowering Shrubs

Flowering Shrubs need pruning, but how they are pruned makes such a difference. Aren’t these shrubs beautiful?

Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’)

Thunder Cloud Sage (Leucophyllum candidum ‘Thunder Cloud’)

Rio Bravo’ Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Rio Bravo’)

‘Rio Bravo’ Sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Rio Bravo’)

You would think that the beauty of these shrubs, in flower, would be enough for people to stop pruning them into absurd shapes, but sadly, this is not the case. In the Desert Southwest, there is an epidemic of truly horrible pruning that affects not only Texas Sage (Leucophyllum species), but also Cassia (Senna species), Fairy Duster (Calliandra species), and even Oleander.

The Consequences of Excessive Pruning

Unsurprisingly, excessive pruning like this is NOT healthy for shrubs and it strips them of their beauty.

The ‘Frisbee’ Phenomenon

You don’t have to go far to see these sad shrubs. All you need to do is drive down the street as I did…

Okay, it should be rather obvious, but I will say it just the same, “Do not prune your shrubs into the shape of a ‘frisbee’.

The ‘Pillbox’ Pruning

I kept driving and found even more examples of truly awful pruning. Sadly, all are within a 5-minute drive of my house.

I call this ‘pillbox’ pruning. These Texas Sage & Cassia shrubs were located across the street from the ‘frisbee’ shrubs.

An attempt at creating a ‘sculpture’? Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’)

A second attempt at creating a sculpture?

Let’s get real. Shrubs pruned this way does nothing to add beauty to the landscape. And, when pruned this way, they cost more, take more time, and use more water – it’s true!

‘Cupcake’ Pruning: An Unappetizing Approach

Now on to some of my favorite ‘cupcake’ examples:

An entire line of ‘cupcakes’. ‘White Cloud’ Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘White Cloud’)

Do you think they use a ‘level’ to make the tops perfectly flat? I honestly wouldn’t put it past them.

You can see the dead area on the top, which is caused from this shrub being sheared repeatedly.

This dead growth is caused by lack of sunlight. Repeated shearing (hedge-trimming) keeps sunlight from reaching the interior of the shrub. As a result, branches begin to die.

After driving around for a while, I drove toward home when I saw the saddest ones of all…

Flowering Shrubs Need Pruning, but these are Disappointing

Now if you look closely, you can see a light layer of gray-green leaves, which really don’t begin to cover the ugly, dense branching that has been caused by years of repeated shearing.

I actually like topiary, but not when done to a Texas Sage. Some people prune up their shrubs so that they can clean up the leaves underneath more easily.

The Goal Should be to Prune with Purpose

Now, I am not against formal pruning, when performed on the right plants. But, it is not attractive when done on flowering, desert plants and it is also unhealthy for the shrubs themselves and contributes to their early death in many cases. Add to that the fact that it greatly increases your maintenance costs due to repeated pruning and having to replace them more frequently.

Now if you have shrubs that look like any of these pruning disasters, don’t panic! They can be fixed in most cases.

Now, why would anyone want to remove the flower buds from your shrubs by shearing, when you can have flowers like this?

Join the ‘Cupcake-Free’ Movement

If you are tired of unnaturally shaped shrubs in your landscape, I understand. Believe it or not, most flowering shrubs need pruning once or twice a year at most – and NOT the type of pruning into weird shapes. I find it ironic that your yard will look better when you do less.

So, if you are wanting to declare your landscape a ‘cupcake-free’ zone, I have something I think you’re gonna love. I invite you to check out my popular online shrub pruning workshop where I teach you how to maintain flowering shrubs by pruning twice a year or less. Hundreds of students have taken the course and are reaping the rewards of a beautiful outdoor space filled with colorful shrubs at a fraction of the work.

Are you ready to break out of the cycle of green blobs?

Landscape No-No’s and How to Fix Them: Over Planted, Poodle Pruned Shrubs and Lack of Variety

Cactus/Succulents, desert, desert gardening, Horticulturist, Landscape No-No, Landscape Problems, Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting, Shrubs, Southwest garden

Photo: Landscape No-No

Addressing Issues in Landscaping: A Guide to Pruned Shrubs

Have you ever driven past a landscape that had some problems with it? As a horticulturist and landscape consultant, my attention diverts whenever I see ‘Landscape No-No’s’ like this one. In this article, we’ll examine a landscape example and highlight the problems it presents.

Introduction: Identifying Landscape Problems

A while ago, I shared the photo of the landscape, above, on my Facebook page and invited people to identify three things wrong with the landscape. I received a lot of comments including “looks like Versailles by the inept” and “shrubs arranged like funny-looking ottomans spread across gravel.”

It’s essential to clarify that the purpose of showcasing landscapes like this isn’t to shame homeowners. Instead, our goal is to help you identify common problems and provide straightforward solutions to correct or prevent them in your landscaping projects.

So, using this landscape as an example, let’s look at the problems and later, focus on how to solve them:

1. Overcrowded Shrubs

It’s obvious that there are too many plants in this area and the mature size of the shrubs weren’t factored in the original design. The types of flowering shrubs in this area – desert ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis), Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica), and ‘Green Cloud’ sage (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’) are good choices. They are clearly spaced too closely together due to poor pruning.

2. Lack of Plant Diversity

As you can see, there is a tree, a couple of succulents (prickly pear cactus & yucca), and a LOT of shrubs. While there is a variety of plants in the landscape, there’s an overabundance of shrubs compared to other types. The landscape lacks a balanced mix of different plant types, resulting in an imbalance that affects its overall aesthetics.

3. Incorrectly Pruned Flowering Shrubs

These lovely, flowering shrubs are contorted into anonymous, green blobs. They lack in beauty and character. In fact, you would have to look closely to be able to identify what each shrub is. The problem is what is missing from this landscape. Primarily attractive shrubs which grow into their natural shapes, covered in colorful flowers. Other problems associated with maintaining flowering shrubs this way are that it is stressful for the plant, shortens their lifespan, causes them to use more water to regrow their leaves, and creates more maintenance.

Solutions: Correcting the Landscape

Now that we have identified the problems, we can now look at the solutions. I will use the landscape above as my example:

Remove excess shrubs. Remove 24 of the 32 shrubs. You will be then have eight flowering shrubs. To decide what shrubs to remove, learn what type of shrub they are and look up how large they are at maturity. Then, make sure that the ones that remain have enough room to grow. Place shrubs up near the house. This anchors the corners of the landscape, and flank an entry.

Severely prune back remaining shrubs. Many shrubs have a ‘restart button’ where much of the damage that has been done due to excessive pruning can be reversed. Severe renewal pruning entails pruning back shrubs to approximately 1 1/2 feet tall and wide in spring. You’ll have nothing left but woody branches and little to no leaves. However, this stimulates plants to produce new, healthy growth. Do this pruning in spring. The key is to keep hedge trimmers away from your newly pruned shrubs forever. Prune with hand pruners, loppers, and pruning saws. This will work with most shrubs except for a few that were in declining health.

Photo: Which one would you rather have? Learn how to maintain shrubs the right way in the desert garden in my popular shrub pruning workshop

Incorporate lower-growing plants such as groundcovers and succulents. A well-designed landscape has plants with varying heights, including those at ground level. For the landscape above, I’d add a few boulders and plant some gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida) and twin-flower agave (Agave geminiflora) alongside them. Other ideas for low-growing succulents include ‘Blue Elf’ aloe, Moroccan mound, and artichoke agave. Flowering groundcovers would also look nice like angelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis), blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum), and sandpaper verbena (Glandularia rigida). I like to use damianita, trailing lantana, and penstemon for color at lower heights.

Photo: Attractive desert landscape with room for plants to grow

Achieving a Balanced and Beautiful Landscape

Here is a snapshot of a landscape area at the Desert Botanical Garden where plants have room to grow. They grow into their natural shape and form.

Transforming the problematic landscape shown earlier, and others like it aren’t difficult, and the results are dramatic. What a beautiful landscape filled with healthy plants that use less water and need little maintenance.

Are you tired of shapeless shrubs that look like green blobs? I invite you to learn more about how to prune the ‘right’ way. Attend my online Shrub Pruning Workshop.

DIY Natural Household Cleaner From Citrus Peels

Southwest Plant Profile: Texas Sage

Southwest Texas garden, Uncategorized

Are you familiar with Texas sage, also referred to as Texas ranger?

If you live in the Southwest, you have undoubtedly seen these beautiful shrubs.

Believe it or not, these purple flowering beauties are a fuss-free plant.

Unfortunately, some people over prune them…

The one on the left has been pruned into a ‘ball’ while the one on the right hasn’t been pruned as severely.

Want to learn more about this native shrub and how to care for it properly? Check out my latest plant profile for Houzz.com

Great Design Plant: Texas Ranger Explodes With Color

A Boy Scout, a Horticulturist and a Lot of Plants

Horticulturist

A few months ago, I was asked to help re-design part of our church’s parking lot landscape. There was nothing really wrong with it except for some old plants and some dying Chinese Elm trees.

So, I created a design that switched out the dying Chinese Elm trees, which don’t do all that well in parking lots, with Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo) trees. I also switched out some of the missing Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’) shrubs as well.

I ordered the trees and shrubs and we were all prepared for an all-church work day. I showed up bright and early (I think 8:00 is early for a Saturday, don’t you?), and met up with a 16-year old boy scout, who was earning community hours for his badge.

He was a very nice boy and we started placing all of the trees and shrubs. Then we started digging….

Yes, I dug holes too….although it has been awhile since I’ve had to dig so many.

We worked on digging holes for the shrubs. My ‘helper’ had never planted a shrub or a tree before and he watched and listened as I showed him how to do it.

I realize that most of you may know how to do this, but just in case, here is what we did. He took pictures for me (I knew I would blog about this) – you can see his shadow in most of the photos…

Planted a shrub, First, I hit the sides of the container, to loosen the root ball from the container.

Planted a shrub, Then I spread my palm out so that I held the shrub between my thumb and fingers and then flipped the container and plant over. I carefully pulled off the container.

The root ball was pretty healthy, it was not root bound.

I placed the shrub in our already dug hole. **An easy tip for figuring out how deep the hole should be, is to put the entire container in the hole you have dug and see if the soil line of the plant is level with the sides of the hole (NOT the sides of the container). You don’t want to plant too deep or too shallowly.

My Boy Scout assistant finished planting the shrub, taking care not to pile up extra soil around the shrub.

After planting this shrub, we went on to plant more. We took turns digging holes, but I must admit that he did more digging then I did.

I enjoyed working with him and explaining how to plant trees and shrubs. After we had worked together for quite a few hours, he asked me, “Are you a teacher or something like that?”

I told him that I ‘teach’ people how to take care of plants.

I hope this was helpful to some of you. I will share my tips for planting trees (we planted 6 of them), next time.

**************************

On a personal note, I have been stuck at home the past few days. My daughter, Gracie, is sick with an extremely contagious virus. The sickness itself isn’t that bad, but the fact that it is easily spread is the problem. She has to miss a week of school and will thankfully, go back on Monday.

However, I am going nowhere…..my son now has it.

So, I am spending my time writing gardening articles, knitting, blogging and doing a little gardening. It really doesn’t sound all that bad when you think about, does it?

Six Trees, a Boy Scout and a Horticulturist

“Cupcakes” In The Garden

AZ Plant Lady

Do you like cupcakes?

Do you prefer a plain cupcake with no frosting?

Or maybe you like just a little bit of frosting….

Of course, many people like cupcakes with a thin layer of icing on the top….

I don’t know about you, but I prefer an entire piece of cake (which is much bigger then a cupcake) with lots of frosting all over it….

How about you?

****************************

After I walked out into my back garden this weekend and seeing my Sage shrubs in full bloom, I just couldn’t resist another post about the unfortunate practice of formerly pruning flowering shrubs into ‘cupcake’ shapes.

Of course you can read more if you like:

Read The Plant Label…Or You Might End Up With Cupcakes

Arizona, Arizona garden, Landscape Design, Landscape No-No

Has this happened to you? You walk through the nursery, and you spot “the perfect plant.” You can envision it in your yard and know precisely where you will put it.

After coming home and planting it, you pat yourself on the back for finding such a great plant. Time passes, and your beautiful plant starts to grow, and grow and grow.

Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’) 1-gallon Approximately 1 ft. Wide and tall.

Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ pruned like ‘cupcakes.’

Fast forward a year or two now it looks bad unless you constantly prune making it high maintenance. Now your beautiful plant no longer looks so lovely (above and below). It now looks more like a ‘cupcake’ because you have had to prune it back to keep it small enough for your space.

No more flowers, no nice foliage…

More ‘cupcakes.’

Unfortunately, there is an epidemic in our area of homeowners and landscapers who prune flowering shrubs so that they end up looking like ‘cupcakes’ or ‘poodles’ just so that they fit into their allotted space. More about that in another post…

Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ in its natural shape. They can grow up to 8 ft. high and wide but can be easily maintained at a more moderate 4′ x 4′.

Texas Sage Flower

Also with flowers this beautiful, why plant it somewhere where you will have to prune them off so that it can fit?

So our lesson is…. be sure to READ THE LABEL of plants before you buy them, which should list how large they will grow, along with the correct sun exposure. If it’s not listed, ask the nursery salesperson for this information, or use your smartphone to get the information.

Then you can go home and place your new “perfect plant” where they will have plenty of room to ‘stretch out’ and dazzle you with their beauty.

**Allowing enough room for plants is just part of what it takes to grow attractive shrubs. Pruning is the next part of the equation. Click here for guidelines on how to properly prune your flowering shrubs.

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