Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spring Pruning of Freeze Damage





In Denver I'd wait until mid April or early May to prune off the winter damage to my roses, often with new shoots revealing the extent of the dead wood. The same holds true in Tampa this spring regarding my citrus, lychee, guava, Barbados Cherry and avocado that were slammed by two nights in a row of sustained 27 degrees Farenheit. I could probably safely begin pruning now, but since this has been an oddly cold El Nino winter I will hold off a couple more weeks. In these pics the new shoots emerging below the dead branch tips on my avocado are clearly visible.....I will cutting off all the dead wood above each point. My Barbados Cherry and Lychee seem freeze killed down to the soil...I sure hope that onces the humid heat return, that both surprise me with new growth from the base. I will be feeding all my fruit trees heavily this summer to help them regrow from the severe damage some incurred. John

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