Overgrown camellia causing problems

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL®

Q: We have a camellia at the corner of our house that is probably 15 or 20 feet tall, and it’s blocking our access to paint the house on that side. Can we cut it back?

A: This is an example of planting a tree or shrub without taking into account how big it can get. Your camellia is obviously too close to the house. If it’s preventing you from painting the side of the house, it might be holding in moisture and contributing to rot.

As painful as it is to let a mature camellia go, that’s exactly what you need to do. If you cut it back, eventually you or the next homeowner will have the same problem. You can cut it back, dig it up and move it if you’re really attached to it, or you can plant another one a more appropriate distance from the house. Remember: Any plant in the wrong place is a weed.

More on bottlebrushes: A couple of weeks ago, a reader wanted advice on how to tell whether her bottlebrush trees had survived winter freezes. David McManus, assistant director of grounds at The Florida State University, wrote to say that while common types of Callistemon are susceptible to cold damage, one seems to recover quickly. In addition, there’s a cold-tolerant one.

“I love bottlebrushes but unfortunately the local nurseries often carry Callistemon viminalis (large weeping) and Callistemon citrinus (fast-growing upright), which are more tender than Callistemon rigidus, which is a slower grower with narrower leaves,” said McManus, who earned a horticulture degree at the University of Florida. “Those two are frequently hurt by hard freezes, but viminalis has made fast recoveries in past years” at Tallahassee Community College.

Although the literature says C. rigidus is hardy only to Zone 9 -- Central Florida and points south -- McManus said it is dependable throughout Zone 8. “I have been growing rigidus at my family’s farm near High Springs since the early '80's and at my home near Havana since 2000 and I have not seen any injury from cold,” he wrote.

“Woodlander’s Hardy” is a cultivar that reportedly has high cold tolerance, he said, although he has never grown it.

Hummingbirds love Callistemon, so a cold-hardy variety is a treasure for gardeners wanting to attract hummers.

More on fertilizing dogwood trees: Last week’s column answered a reader’s specific question about the best time to apply fertilizer to dogwood trees. My answer might have left the impression that you must fertilize your dogwood trees, and that’s not true. If you want your trees to grow faster, apply fertilizer. But if you picked a good location that meets the trees’ needs and have good soil with adequate moisture, they’ll grow just fine without fertilizer. Many gardeners tend to overuse fertilizer, and the excess runs off and pollutes our springs, rivers and trees. If you use fertilizer, use a light hand.

Take care when placing, pruning pyracantha

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL®

Q: I need to know how to take care of two pyracantha bushes, which are side by side. I'd like for them to bush more as opposed to shooting out long arms. When should I prune them and fertilize them, and which fertilizer, etc.? I'm not a gardener but I love flowers and flowering bushes.

A: Unfortunately, what you’re asking for is not easily attained, and if you are able to get it, it could come at a price you’re not willing to pay.

Pyracantha, commonly called firethorn, is a member of the rose family, and both relatives have thorns. But roses are nothing compared to firethorn when it comes to aggressive growth habits. Firethorn throws out long, shooting branches that look really attractive when they’re planted in an out-of-the-way location but pose extreme danger in close proximity. It really needs to be planted far away from traffic areas.

To keep the firethorn in check and force a more bush-type shape, you’ll have to prune it severely and do it several times a year. It will eventually conform to the shape you’re seeking, but it will continue to put out long, leggy shoots each year that need to be chopped back.

What do you love about your pyracanthas? I suspect it’s a little bit the white flowers in spring and a lot the red berries in the fall and winter. And those flowers and berries form on year-old wood, so all that pruning and chopping to keep the shrub in bounds will results in loss of what you really value in your pyracantha.

My advice is to let the pyracantha do what it does naturally. It eventually will form a dense arching shrub that is a haven for wildlife and a source of beautiful flowers and fruit. Pyracantha needs little or no supplemental food, so don’t worry about fertilizing it. It’s also drought-tolerant once established.

If you want more rounded, bushy shrubs, I suggest planting hydrangeas or old-garden shrub roses in an appropriate spot. Your arms and hands will thank for skipping the pruning and the thorns.

Q: I have several bottlebrush planted in my yard, and almost all are mature, about 10 feet tall. They all bloom profusely and the hummers enjoy them. However, the freezes we had a couple of weeks ago have really done a number on them and all of them – their leaves – are brown and quite burnt-dead. Should I prune the dead branches now and risk no blooms, or should I let them go and see what happens to all the dead leaves?

A: There are a couple of shrubs called bottlebrush. One, Callistemon, is hardy only in USDA Zone 9 – Central Florida -- and points south. It can be expected to sustain serious damage in a hard freeze.

More cold tolerant is the bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora, which is cold-tolerant to Zone 5. A hard freeze would throw it into dormancy, which means it looks dead but isn't.

Since I don’t know which kind of bottlebrushes you have, I suggest you wait until they start to sprout before you prune. If your plants are Aesculus, the shrubs are simply dormant and will come back. If they’re Callistemon, you’ll see lots of dead branches. You can prune them, or decide to replace the entire shrub with the more cold-hardy type.