How to care for holiday plants
There are plenty of plants associated with winter holidays and gift-giving. I’ve gathered a few hints together to get the most out of your plants:
When purchasing plants, particularly temperature-sensitive ones like poinsettias, shop on warmer days and make sure that the plant is protected before you take it out of the store. Purchase plants at the end of the shopping trip; unload them first when you get home. Use the same philosophy when you are delivering them as gifts — last in the car and first out.
Drainage is still important. Make sure that you remove or punch holes in any container or wrap that covers the bottom of the pot. Place a saucer or tray under each pot to avoid water damage to surfaces.
Cut trees should be in holders with a water reservoir and the water should be checked daily. Consider adding a waterproof mat under the tree stand to protect your floors from damage. Do not keep cut trees indoors for more than a week or so.
Never use real candles on Christmas trees and only turn lights on when someone is in the room.
Use cool lights for indoor decorating. They will do less damage to plants you intend to keep. Decorate fragile Norfolk pines with lightweight ornaments and only the tiniest of lights. The branches are easily damaged and will not regrow.
Do not let sensitive plants touch the glass of exterior windows. Avoid positioning them in drafts, air returns, stoves, fireplaces, or exits to the outdoors.
Holly doesn’t like warm and dry environments so it is best used in exterior arrangements or wreaths. You can spray or dunk cut holly in water to extend its life but be aware that dried holly is sharp,
Rotate your amaryllis plants regularly to keep the flower stalks straight. If you intend to keep the bulbs for next year, remove the flower stalks after the blooms fade but water and grow the greens until early next fall. Then allow them to dry out and go dormant. When new green growth appears, water and move into bright light for another season of blooms next winter.
Privet Hedge revisited
That is some column you wrote (referring to last week’s response to Chuck’s problem with his privet hedge). You really covered the topic very well with one small exception. Does the age of the plants have any bearing on what to expect? I think not as my father’s house had a hedge that his father planted a really long time ago.
Re: feeding. I have been hesitant since I suspect that all of the feeder roots are out in the lawn and I did not want to encourage massive root growth directly under the stems.
Your point about trimming is consistent with my usual practice of trimming shrubs from the inside out. Of course, trying to do this in the crown of a hedge will be an enormous task but I might give it a try; perhaps in a limited area and check on the results which should be evident in short order.
I do not think I have a critter or fungal problem but I will look more carefully.
Anyway, thanks for this reply. Not sure how many privet lovers are out there these days but actually a lot of what you wrote is applicable to many types of shrubs.
— Chuck Graves, Center Valley.
I tried to find a definitive life
span for privet but only found a few vague references to particular hedges. Thirty to thirty-five years is a relatively common age range, with quite a few living well past fifty year. Age can be a factor in the decline of the privet. The older plant is weaker, less resistant to disease and insect damage and the death is usually slow, taking two to three years.
An option that I did not mention last week is rejuvenate pruning. You can cut back the plant to about six to 12 inches above the soil and allow it to grow up again to reach the desired height. Privet grows quite quickly so this may be an option if you can wait a few years until the hedge fully recovers.