Freesias, available in more than seven colors, grow on angled floral spikes. The flowers are highly fragrant.

Photograph by Shari Kaplan

Watch out for 'gardeners' who mow, blow, mutilate

By TONY TOMEO

After researching both the thesaurus and the dictionary, I am unable to identify a word that means the equivalent of "to mutilate by shearing" that rhymes with "mow, blow and go." Perhaps this is why such a descriptive verb has been omitted from this classification of "gardeners."

These gardeners are useful for mowing, which is a task that even the most proficient of garden enthusiasts may not enjoy. Blowing is also important, but I would prefer if my neighbors' gardeners would invest in quieter blowers. After mowing and blowing, I am glad when they go.

"Mutilation by shearing," for which I have yet to invent a single word, may not be part of the professional designation, but is the procedure performed by these gardeners that offends me most. I cannot think of many species that I have not seen violated by this procedure at one time or another. In fact, my colleague Brent Green and I have competitively exchanged photographs of items we could not believe were so violated, including African iris, pampas grass, bird-of-paradise and jade plant.

I often see landscapes that were well-designed with plant species that are appropriate to the site, but have been cut out into ridiculous shapes. For example, an office building near my home is surrounded by wax-leaf privets that were obviously intended as a hedge, but were instead sheared into squatty spheres. Wherever a tree would be suitable, there are "bush-trees"--olives, guavas and tristanias that could be trees if only they were not sheared into shapes resembling those of the privets.

Of course, formally sheared hedges or other sheared features are useful for many landscape situations. Many garden enthusiasts prefer sheared hedges as substitutes for informal screens that require more space, or fences that are not so appealing. Hedges should be composed of one species that performs well with regular shearing. Different cultivars of the same species should not be mixed. Otherwise, there will be variation where uniformity is needed. Large leaves get cut with shearing and look tattered. Therefore, finer foliage is preferred.

Hedges need not be too wide. They often get wider with age if shearing is even slightly farther from the center each time. Those who prefer not to be so aggressive with periodic shearing may perform a more severe annual shearing about now, as the hedges begin to grow after winter. Recovery is more rapid now than at any other time of year. Of course, if the hedge has already begun to grow, shearing should be later, after the new growth has hardened off.

The sides of the hedge should not be perfectly vertical, but sloping inward higher up so that the shape is tapered. This allows maximum sun exposure and partially compensates for the tendency of the hedge to produce more growth near the top. Frequency of shearing is determined by preference. Some of the slower-growing hedges may be sheared only annually at the end of winter if a less refined but still somewhat formal appearance is preferred. Faster growing hedges, such as privets, will require periodic shearing throughout the growing seasons to maintain their form.

Shearing should not be used as a substitute for pruning or trimming. There are many pruning techniques for many different applications and situations that will be discussed in a future column.

Flower of the Week: Freesia

Like other spring bulbs emerging about this time, freesia (Freesia hybrid) is not exempt from the ravages of the gardener's weed whip. Those that have survived in my neighbor's garden are blooming on 1-foot-tall floral spikes with narrow basal leaves nearly as high. They may seem shorter because they do not stand vertically and the floral spikes are angled or "kinked" where the lowest florets originate. They will grow more vertically if they emerge through another, lower-growing perennial such as gazania.

The very fragrant, tubular flowers are about 2 inches long. Colors include yellow, orange, red, pink, white, pale purple and pale blue. The corms (similar to bulbs) should have been installed 2 inches deep last autumn, but may be available through winter. Established corms can multiply profusely. Freesias may also produce seed if the floral stems are not removed after bloom. However, second-generation freesias from seed revert to "feral" freesias with pale white flowers with yellow. Foliage abscises after bloom and may not be seen again until the following winter.

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Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.358.2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.

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