Title:
Do-It-Yourself: Pruning Plants (First of Two Parts)
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Pruning makes no sense. You cut off parts of a
plant. Yet the plant is supposed to grow back even
better than before? This demands an answer.
The explanation begins with the apical bud. This bud
is at the end of the actively growing tip of the
plant.
Apical buds produce a growth hormone called auxin.
The buds release this hormone down the plant stem.
When the top of the main shoot is removed -- by
pruning or breakage -- the auxin is no long
produced.
This causes buds to the side, called lateral buds,
to wake up and start growing. The result: better
plant development. Pruning can also remove unhealthy
or unneeded parts of a plant, and increase the
growth of flowers and fruit.
Generally, the best time to prune is in late winter,
before spring growth starts. But gardening experts
at the University of Florida extension point out
some exceptions.
For example, spring-blooming plants like spireas and
azaleas should be pruned after they bloom. Then
pinch the new shoots between your thumb and
forefinger. That will help them develop branches
that produce new blooms.
Plant expert Doug Welsh says when you prune a
rosebush, crape myrtle or shade tree, first remove
dead, broken or diseased parts. Cut at the place
where the problem begins. "Deadhead," or take off,
dead blooms.
Remove any branches that touch another branch; leave
the stronger one or the one that is in a better
position. Remove any branches growing in the same
space as the branches next to them. Also prune
branches growing toward the ground, high branches
growing straight up and shoots growing from the base
of the tree.
But Doug Welsh, a professor at Texas A&M University,
says not to go too far with pruning. He says a lot
of it can be avoided just by choosing the right
plant for the right space. "People can ruin what
nature has created," he says.
Melissa Snyder, a master gardener in Manatee County,
Florida, says pruning wounds a plant. People do not
need to put anything on the wound, she says. But
they do need to be careful not to wound themselves
with chainsaws or other pruning tools.
Also, tools can spread disease from one plant to
another. So be sure to disinfect tools with alcohol
or bleach after each plant.
And thats the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report. Next week, learn about new scientific
understanding of how pruning works. And for more
gardening advice, go to voaspecialenglish.com.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
