Pruning nandina now OK if it’s in the way
Q: I have a heavenly bamboo planted in my courtyard near the entrance. It has grown really well this year, in fact, too well. I need to prune it and am hoping now is an OK time and how much can I cut back without harming the plant? — L.H.H.O., West Side
A: You don’t have to worry about pruning your heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) this time of year. The only caution I’d offer is you’ll be removing the pleasant red berries the plant is probably wearing now that would offer some additional color during the drab winter months. Remember, too, that the plant will stay snubbed or static looking until next spring when it pops new growth. But if it’s in the way, prune!
You can easily take off a third of the plants height so long as you have several sets of true leaves left below where you choose to cut. Taken down to bare-wood on the trunk/stems, the plant will look stupid for months, it could suffer freeze damage this coming winter and might have a hard time popping new leaf on those trunk/ stems next growing season. If the Nandina has really filled out the spot it’s in, you could remove several of the older trunk/stems to thin the planting, too. Get down and using a sharp, clean pair of hand loppers, remove several trunk/stems as close to the ground as you can get. Consider daubing Elmer’s glue on the fresh cut just like I suggest you do when you are pruning your roses. While you’re down there hand rake out any of the old massed leaves that could have collected in and around the plant’s base. That would help the plant get and enjoy better air circulation, internally so to speak, to keep any diseases at bay. Also by making the planting airier it might not be prone to house any hidden pest colonies. I don’t know of many pests or diseases that heavenly bamboo is susceptible to, but prevention is always a good practice. After you’ve raked, thinned and pruned give the plant a good drink of water so it’ll know all is well and continue to settle in for winter.
Q: I collected lots of seed from my marigolds and moss rose plants last year but they didn’t grow well for me this year. Any suggestions on how best to store the seed I’m capturing this year? — H.S., Albuquerque
A: I have a couple of thoughts on saving your seed.
First, store them in paper. Small paper envelopes are the ticket. Don’t use plastic bags or containers at all when storing your seed. Then be sure there is no left over plant material holding the seed. The marigold seed is housed in the blooms’ protective “hip” and the moss rose seed is tucked in at the base of the spent blooms. That hip or packet or husk, whatever you call it, needs to be removed and the seed allowed a few days of airing out before you package and store it. Doing the gleaning of the seed indoors on a paper plate is perfect. That way you can fold the plate to pour the seed into your envelopes. On the envelope you can write details of the contents, and the year the seed was harvested.
As for storing the seed, your goal is to keep it in a spot that is cool (not freezing), dry and fairly dark. Once I’d packaged my seed I always kept it in a larger paper bag that was stored in the bottom of my pantry. Seemed to work fine for me.
Those are the few things I will suggest. Hope this helps. Happy harvesting while you are out there Digging In!