-
domesticdiva
- Full Member
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 10:54 am
- Location: Eastern NC
My husbands wrong, right? :)
I like my trees and shrubs to grow freely instead of trimming. I feel it has more of a whimsical look. We live in a crafstman style home and I think it looks good with "fairy tale" landscaping. A shrub pruned into a perfect ball is too much work anyway. Hubby gets all worked up about the shrubs touching the house and refuses to allow me to train any vines on a trellis leaned against the house. He claims it will mess up the vinyl siding or cause bug issues or something....Whats the harm? Me and Hubby are like night and day but I think thats what keeps it exciting!
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30545
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I'm afraid shrubbery WILL scratch vinyl siding and siding covered by overgrown areas will be susceptible to mildew. Also, the plants themselves will become prone to fungal diseases in your presumably humid mid-Atlantic garden.
But you can prune your trees and shrubs for their health without going Edward Scissorhands. You can encourage natural appearance by removing entire branches to thin and shortening the remaining growth just enough, rather than cutting them to same length. 
But you can prune your trees and shrubs for their health without going Edward Scissorhands.
You can encourage natural appearance by removing entire branches to thin and shortening the remaining growth just enough, rather than cutting them to same length. I've also seen trellises advertised which attach *with spacers* to the house, allowing for good air flow and for human hands to reach behind the trellis and clip off intruding vine branches before any damage can take place.
Pruning helps plants by keeping air flow available to all parts of the plant. Without good air flow, fungal diseases can take hold of the plant and not be able to be treated.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Pruning helps plants by keeping air flow available to all parts of the plant. Without good air flow, fungal diseases can take hold of the plant and not be able to be treated.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
-
hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
We are alike in that I like free form shrubs, with only light pruning. On the other hand I do not like shrubs or vines growing right up against the house, unless they can be cut back all the way to the foundation from time to time, like when painting. So in that regard I'm more like your husband. I don't think that there is a right or wrong here, but more a personal preference, and maybe a bit of pragmatism with respect to the plants actually touching the house.