Q When is the best time to plant cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts? I have my garden tilled up and need to know when to plant these.
A As soon as you can find vegetable transplants, you can plant. They usually don't start hitting the garden centers and nurseries until the end of February. All of the vegetables you named are usually grown from small transplants rather than seeds. Right now you can plant seeds for carrots, English peas, snow peas, spinach and greens. Just pay attention to the weather in case we do get any more winter weather.
Q Our beautiful, full Japanese maple looks like it needs a trim. Is the timing right, and if so how much should we trim for its health and shape? It is about 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
A Japanese maples may be pruned to control shape and size. Judging from the photo you sent, the issue is not that it is too large but that it is too close to the driveway. If you don't do a little pruning, you will be brushing against it as you come and go. Unfortunately, I think it was planted a bit too close to the driveway. I always say you need to be able to answer three questions before you start pruning -- why are you pruning, when should you prune and how you should prune. For you, the reason why is this tree is beginning to interfere with car movement. The when is now, or late February before new growth kicks in; and the how is to thin as little as possible to retain the natural grace but keep the tree within bounds. If it were not in the way, I would not prune at all.
Q We need to know how far back to cut on the branches when pruning our fig tree this spring. We remove all of the "suckers" growing at the base of the tree, assuming these are drawing nutrition away from the main areas that bear fruit. For our pear tree, how far back should we prune back the "aerial branches" that grow straight up in the tree? Both are old, established trees that have been shaped.
A I would wait to prune the fig tree until we are sure we aren't having any more of winter. The past two winters caused considerable dieback in many fig trees. If you pruned now and we got severe cold, you could have more damage to prune. It would not be harmful to wait even until early March to prune the figs. Prune only as needed. Some people try to keep them a manageable height to aid in harvest, but if you have a large tree, let the tops of the tree feed the birds, so they will leave the lower fruit for you. Pruning out suckers will keep it more in tree form, versus a fig bush. For the pears, they are typically pruned into almost Christmas tree form -- taller central leader and the subsequent branches coming in lower. Keeping it pruned to a height that you can pick from is helpful, but you may need to thin out excess suckering or branches that occur within the tree, as pears often produce too many new branches each season. Excessive growth will cut down on air flow and can produce too many small pears, versus nice large ones. I would prune pears any time from now until the end of the month.
Q We have a low-growing but wide evergreen bush in our front yard, and we're not quite sure what it is. Here are photos. Could you help us identify it? I'm thinking it must be some kind of juniper, and we would like to get another one. I imagine it could benefit from a bit of pruning since it has spread in width considerably since we moved here 15 years ago. Seems happy in this south-facing location.
A I believe it is a variety of Chinese juniper, possibly "Sea Green" or "Pfitzeriana." Junipers are not as forgiving of severe pruning as are broadleaf evergreens. Junipers don't have dormant buds on old wood, so make sure you leave green needle growth at the ends of the branches when pruning. If it isn't interfering with the rest of your landscape, there is no need to prune.
Janet B. 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 email her at
jcarson@arkansasonline.com
HomeStyle on 02/13/2016