LITTLE ROCK — Q Someone told me last week that if you top a sweetgum tree, it won’t produce gum balls for four or five years.
Is this true?
I have a huge sweetgum tree in the backyard that my wife loves for the shade it produces, but I hate the gum balls I have to deal with all year long. I want to cut it down, but if topping it will stunt the gum balls, I’m willing to try that.
A Not true, and very, very bad for the tree. Topping a tree leads to a hollow, unsafe tree and should never be done. Sweetgum balls can be a nuisance, but the fall color and the overall shade make them worthwhile. If you grow hostas, the sweetgum balls make a great mulch to keep slugs away, and if neighborhood cats use your garden as a litter box, sweetgum mulchkeeps them away, too. I am still surprised that some enterprising gardener hasn’t bagged the stuff and sold it for either or both uses. Maybe you have a new cottage industry in your yard. Q When should we stop watering trees and bushes in central Arkansas?
A There is not a cutoff date for watering. It all depends on weather conditions. If you remember back to the horrid drought of 1980, we had more drought damage to trees and shrubs long after the heat backed off, because the drought continued all winter and people quit watering. We have been fortunate to have rain every few weeks lately, so additional watering isn’t required unless you are planting new shrubs, trees and winter annuals. Then you will need to water a bit. Most plants will do well without additional water for two to three weeks at a time in the winter, but container plants will still need to be watered, especially prior to a hard freeze. Dry plants will be more sensitive to winter injury.
Q We have a hibiscus plant in a pot outside our front door that we bought earlier this summer.
It still has a flower and some buds on it. Yesterday I put a black garbage bag over it to protect it overnight from the freezing temperatures.
How should I take care of this plant so it survives the winter - if they do. Can I plant it outside ? Please give us your advice.
A Tropical hibiscus will not survive our winter outdoors. You have a few options:
Leave it outside until the frost kills it and buy a new one next year (which is what I do);
Move it into your garage or under the house in your crawl space to protect it from freezing. This must be done before a hard frost.
It won’t look pretty when you move it back outside next spring, but you can cut it back and repot, and it should rebound.
The third option would be to treat it as a houseplant all winter. However, since you have left it outside for all this cool weather, a move into a heated house would probably cause it to lose all of its leaves. Many areas of the state have had freezes, ranging from light to hard.
My yard has been through a light frost, but my tropical hibiscus and mandevilla are still growing.
Q Yesterday I was visiting a friend and noticed that all the oak leaves in her driveway were upside down. Today I noticed that my driveway was full of upside down oak leaves.
Interestingly not one of them was right side up. They have the lobular kind of leaves ... maybe white oaks ... not pin oaks. I am sure it has to do with the concave topside of the leaf and wind currents. I think it is kind of fascinating.
What say you?
A You made me curious, so I went and looked at the millions of leaves in my yard, and I have a combination of up and down. I have never heard of the phenomenon before, but it is interesting.
Q I need some information regarding the planting of Carolina jasmine and roses. Is now the time to plant Carolina jasmine and roses?
A The best time to plant Carolina jasmine would be spring through early summer, and roses can be planted year round, but your best option is late February, as that’s when nurseries begin to get them in.
Q Please tell me how and when to prune a 40-year-old gardenia that has grown to 12 to 15 feet - at least. It was in my yard when I moved in 39 years ago, about 4- to 5-feet wide at the time. I have never pruned it except to cut blooms off for bouquets.
It blooms faithfully every June and September ... this year on through October. It seems to have several trunks, but I cannot see it clearly. If I cut some of the branches way back at the bottom, will it be harmed? I don’t know whether to trim it back into some shape. It is really too big and overtaking some azaleas planted at least 10 feet from the trunk.
A If it needs pruning, do so soon after it blooms in June next year. The flowerbuds are set now for that bloom period, so any pruning now would reduce your flowering. Another reason not to prune in the fall is that it would take away some winter protection. Gardenias can struggle in a really cold winter, so leave it as is until summer.
Janet Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or e-mail her at
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