Growing Things: How to best prune your spruce hedge

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Q: I read your column every week. The question I have concerns a blue spruce hedge.  The hedge runs along the side of our property that stretches about 50 metres containing about 30-40 trees.  They were planted by a previous owner, probably around 1948.  The trees are about 3 metres tall.  Each year I climb up a 3-metre ladder and trim off the small tips that grow out. It usually takes me the better part of a week to do this.

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I’m getting kind of apprehensive about climbing up the 3-metre ladder to do this each year and the question I have is can the trees be topped?  In other words, could I have about 1.5-2 metres cut off the top? I know it would probably look ugly at first but I hope with time and further pruning I could cultivate the trees back into something that looks half decent and I won’t have to risk life and limb going up the ladder. The hedge is really nice to have offering privacy and habitat for birds and squirrels.

A: You can prune the trees back as drastically as you describe. However, I would do it gradually rather than all at once. During the first year I would cut back 30 cm, the next year another 30 cm and finally a last 30 cm in the 3rd year. I would also do the pruning in the very early spring before the buds start swelling. It is best to prune the trees in sub-zero weather. The trees will indeed come back to a nice shape.

I was in Home Depot the other day and noticed a long-handled electric chainsaw type of pruner. This might be ideal for your job. It was reasonably priced and had a chainsaw blade at the end of a handle that could be extended. I believe the extension would easily reach 3 m if I recall correctly. You could stand on the ground and still reach the tops of the trees.

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Q: Love all the great advice you give. I hope you can help answer a question for me. My mom tells me that I should be watering my African Violet from the bottom only. Is this true? I’ve been watering it from the top.

A: Don’t you know that mom is always right? In your case, mom is absolutely correct. The African violet should be watered by placing it in a tray of water or in a sink and the water allowed to wick up into the soil. However, you can also water from above if using a long spouted watering can. The trick is to avoid getting any water on the leaves as this can cause spotting among other things.

Every week, Growing Things Outdoors runs online at edmontonjournal.com or, if you prefer an epaper format, epaper.edmontonjournal.com

Learn more by emailing your questions to filipskigerald@gmail.com, reading past columns or my book Just Ask Jerry. You can also follow me on Twitter @justaskjerry01.

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