Subject: Pruning hollies, evergreens, azaleas, and forsythia

From: [email-masked] (Dilip Barman)
Date: 5 Apr 1995 17:51:33 -0400

(I keep up with triangle.gardens but not rec.gardens; please send
responses directly to me -- [email-masked] -- or to triangle.gardens.)

When is the right time and what is the right amount to prune hollies,
evergreens, azaleas and forsythia?  Also, I put a big weeping cherry in
this past winter and was very anxious to see it bloom.  It came up with
like 4 blossoms one morning a few weeks ago and that same evening had
about a dozen - but that's it!  Now the dozen blossoms are pretty much
gone and I have lots of foliage.  Did it not flower much because it was
the first year?  Do I need to prune or fertilize the cherry now?  Thanks!!

      Dilip
(zone 7)

-- 
  Dilip Barman, Dept. of Computer Science
  University of North Carolina, CB 3175
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599	
  (919)962-1821, Fax -1799; [email-masked] http://www.cs.unc.edu/~barman

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From: [email-masked] (L. R. Fortney)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 11:55:08 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Dilip
> the first year?  Do I need to prune or fertilize the cherry now?  Thanks!!
    Your lack of cherry bloom is certainly because it's the first year. 
These usually bloom very nicely, although the flowers only last for a
short time.  Some fertilizer wouldn't hurt, but you mostly want to
encourage root growth so put on a balanced fertilizer 8-8-8 and not a
nitrogen heavy one 20-1-1.
    Prune azaleas after they flower.  Forsythia should also be pruned as
soon as it finishes blooming.  Thin it by cutting canes off at the ground,
rather than cutting off the tops.  It'll grow new long arching stems from
the base and look better.  Evergreens and hollies I think can be pruned
most anytime.  They will put on a new growth spurt soon.  I prune my
Burford (sp?) hollies in the fall to make the berries more visible...but
there are lots of varieties so we're probably not talking about the same
ones.

-- 
Lloyd Fortney ---Opinions, just opinions---

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From: [email-masked] (L. R. Fortney)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 11:55:08 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (L. R. Fortney)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 11:55:08 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Dick Gilman)
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 1995 18:36:55 GMT

>the first year?  Do I need to prune or fertilize the cherry now?  Thanks!!
Hollies if pruned now will not have berries, if you do not care
about the berries you can prune now.  If you want berries you have
to prune after they bloom so that next year they will bloom and
pollinate and produce berries.

Azaleas not for a couple of months.  Again they bloom on new
growth so after they bloom wait about two weeks then prune.

Forsythia - any time after they bloom.

Weeping Cherry - is a fruitless fruit tree.  So however fruit trees
behave and fertlize and trim do that for this cherry tree!  I did
not put one in becuase of the amount of work that fruit trees down
here need, dormant oil, bugs, trimmings etc.

 I have noticed that down here the saying 

first year it sleeps
second year it creeps
third year it leaps

is very very true.