The episode starts with a fun little ditty about Bumbershoots (umbrellas) and a chat about Spacing Plants to avoid having to prune them. Plus, the reasons to prune are similar to those for caring for ourselves and our families.
We discuss Smokebush, with its splendid features (and cautions), and other shrubs you can rejuvenate-prune in spring.
Then wrap up with inspiration on revitalizing and restoring ourselves. I hope you enjoy the story.
Related Stories and Helpful Links:
Reasons to Prune – Blog Post
Rejuvenation Pruning & Smokebush – Blog Post
Ep 106. Rejuvenation Pruning Lifts Hearts, including mine, as I joined a lifelong friend and her grown sons to rejuvenate overgrown shrubs and renew their gardens.
8888
I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
You can Follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.
Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
AskMaryStone.com
More about the Podcast and Column:
Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page
Ep 155. Spacing Plants – Spendid Smokebush
Sat, Apr 06, 2024 2:58PM • 10:01
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
prune, plant, rejuvenate, smoke, bush, shrubs, early spring, garden, sun, size, hope, cut, dilemmas, growth, bloom, camp, rain, grow, bumbershoot, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens; It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:23
Hello there, it's Mary Stone, and welcome to the screen porch after a two day deluge of rain that finally stopped. You likely hear the book racing like a river and it is I just wrapped up a walk in the rain. Folks were driving by likely wondering why am I out there with Jolee, who walks near my legs to take advantage of the rain protection from my Bumbershoot. Did you ever call an umbrella a Bumbershoot? I had to dig into where the name came from, which is unclear, actually. Some say it's a combo of umbrella and parachute, which makes sense. There's a song in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Written by the American songwriting Sherman Brothers, sung by the English character played by Dick Van Dyke: you can have me a hat or a Bumbershoot. But you'd better never bother me and old bamboo, which makes me believe that Bumbershoots' origin is British. But, the Oxford English Dictionary identifies the word as originally and chiefly US slang. And they cite that the earliest evidence for Bumbershoot is from the 1976 Chester times, which is in Pennsylvania. So there you go, we learned a new word, maybe some of us did, or the history of the word Bumbershoot.
Mary Stone 01:43
Well, I think most of us are weary of using our umbrellas. But after rain, the sun shines. And actually, I'm hearing some birdsongs which is so lovely. I want to thank those who reached back after last week's chat about Root Pruning and a Journey of Growth. Louise wrote, I just listened to your podcast, I didn't know you were having health issues. Glad to hear that you're feeling better, and that you're taking care of yourself. You are my inspiration. Hope to see you soon at camp. She added the comfort zone camp colors of red, blue, and green with the cute little heart emojis. You are so kind, and I can't thank you enough for listening and supporting me. I'm grateful for the healing. Hope to see you at camp too. Louise is a nurse who faithfully volunteers for the camp and that role is so critical for a successful camp. Getting folks with those credentials to be on deck 24/7 for the whole weekend is hard. It's the responsibility that Louise takes on so graciously.
Mary Stone 02:46
Speaking of recovery and rejuvenation, I thought we'd wrap up our series on early spring to do's with a story of Reasons to Prune and about Smokebush; it starts like this.
Mary Stone 02:57
Hello, fellow listeners and readers. The reasons to prune are similar to those for caring for ourselves and our families, improving appearance and health, training the young, controlling size, preventing injury or damage, rejuvenating the old, and influencing bowtie. However, choosing the right plant is the first step to limit the need for pruning. But then there are times that desperate measures call for rejuvenation pruning. While planning a new foundation planting, Darren from Hackettstown, New Jersey, asked about pruning. With proper plant selection and placement, he won't have to prune for certainly many years, if at all if you choose the right plant. Choose plants appropriate and size for the area, allowing space to grow.
Mary Stone 03:42
Planting young plants too close to the foundation is a common mistake. Find out the mature widths and heights and space accordingly. Seems pretty simple, right? But it is hard when you get your new plants to not put them so close to the house because they're small; give them room to grow. For example, a shrub that matures 10 feet high and five feet wide should be planted five feet apart from the center of the plant. For trees, space them half their width at maturity is a basic rule of thumb, but not a catch-all, as there are variable growth rates. For a fast-growing tree you may wish to space further. Or, if you're seeking a quick screen, plant them closer.
Mary Stone 04:21
So, while Darren won't have to control size for a while, he's wise to think about the other reasons to prune. It's best to train while young rather than having to rejuvenate when old, which parallels keeping fit. In general, once your plants reach the desired size, you can prune the new growth every year right after the bloom to maintain its size. I wish it were that easy for us (smile). Then there are some situations that call for drastic measures.
Mary Stone 04:49
It felt therapeutic to tend to prune the Smokebush and other shrubs over the weekend. Rejuvenation pruning is drastically cutting back overgrown plants to restore them to their intended shape. or to manage its size, which was the case with my Smokebush, also called Smoke Tree, which was rising above the roof. Cotinus coggygria is a fast-growing shrub that bursts into bloom in the summer and resembles puffs of smoke, hence the name. It grows 10 to 15 feet tall and wide in zones five to eight and prefers full sun, but it can tolerate all kinds of soil pH but prefers slightly acidic soil. I have to warn you, though it does not like soggy soil, so good drainage is essential. But once established, you can tolerate drought.
Mary Stone 05:34
I should mention that according to the North Carolina Extension Office, the plant does have a low severity of poison characteristics. For some, contact with the sap of the plant can cause dermatitis, so just be a little careful of that. I don't have any allergies to it myself. But I did hear from one reader that did so I wanted to bring that point up.
Mary Stone 05:55
Mine is a Royal Purple smoke Bush, one of the dark purple varieties. It lives in part sun so it doesn't purple up as much as those in full sun. The leaves are greenish purple, but still, a lovely plant that turns reddish purple in the fall. Mine is a standard, meaning it was trained to be a single trunk, but the actual natural form is a clump.
Mary Stone 06:18
To rejuvenate prune Smokebush, and lessen the canopy by about 1/3. Randomly cut the branches to just above the next growth node, which is where the new stems grow. Cleanly cut at a slight angle about a quarter of an inch from the branch collar to remove an entire limb. Making clean angular cuts prevents insects or diseases. Work carefully around the trunks as these beauties have quite tender wood, I must say.
Mary Stone 06:45
You can also rejuvenate clump, Smokebush each year to control the size. Cut them six to eight inches above the ground, much like we do butterfly bush. Of course, don't prune a standard smokebush close to the ground, as it will revert to its clumping natural shape.
Mary Stone 07:00
The best time to rejuvenate prune is before budding begins in late winter or early spring. Young Smokebush can shoot out odd branches growing tall before filling out. I always suggest pruning the unusual shoots as they come along to encourage thicker branching. Other plants I rejuvenate prune in early spring by cutting them to half their size, our little princess spirea and cinquefoil. Like butterfly bush they bloom on new wood so we won't miss out on the flower this season.
Mary Stone 07:29
Smokebush, on the other hand flowers on the old wood. Therefore, it will be a few seasons before the revitalized plant returns to its puffy glory of blooms. Newly installed Smokebush may take a few years to bloom, but there are miracles in the resurrection and new beginnings. It brings us hope. Garden Dilemmas? Ask Mary Stone.com.
Mary Stone 07:53
We have a bit more time for other general pruning rules of thumb. Early spring is an ideal time to prune evergreen shrubs like juniper and use as well as deciduous shrubs that are not famous for their flowers such as red twig dogwood and ninebark. Otherwise, the rule of thumb is to prune after shrubs flower. Boxwoods can be pruned anytime through summer, but please don't have meatball shapes. That's a pet peeve of mine. Of utmost importance is not to prune plants in late summer or early fall as it may encourage new growth that will not have time to harden off causing winter damage. Also, pruning at those times stresses the plants because it's best that they put energy into their roots at that time of year rather than new growth.
Mary Stone 08:38
And look at this: the sun is starting to peek through. Indeed, after every rain, the sun will shine. It makes me think of a quote from Rumi, the great Sufi mystic and poet from the 1200s. And still, after all this time, the sun has never said to the earth. You owe me. Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the sky. Don't you just love that? So, thanks for coming by and sitting with me today. And I'm so grateful to see the sun shining and the birds singing, and I hope you are too. And as we go through rough patches in life, remember that we can rejuvenate and restore ourselves and have great faith in the new beginnings that occur after endings. It brings us hope. Thanks so much. See you next time on the screen porch.
Mary Stone 09:30
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.