"Trim Me!"

“Wash me!” Perhaps you have seen a car covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt, with those words scraped on the window by someone’s finger. (Whether a thick layer of dust should be a badge of pride in our current drought is a beyond the scope of this blog.)

This Lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia)  is making a fine foundation hedge. After a flush of spring growth, it is ready for a light trimming, but it has been well shaped and trimmed in previous seasons.  (CNPS San Diego garden tour home).

 “Trim me!” is what I could write on some of my neighbors’ plants.  They want to be handsome and well groomed. They want to fit in the space. But they are denied this simple mark of respect, and so people deem them ugly, or unfit for a suburban garden. I have heard it said that trimming natives “is not natural.”  Well.   Drought, wind, deer and rabbits trim natives very well, thank you.  And buying them in pots from greenhouses and putting them in parking strips isn't exactly au natural either.

This poor Lemonadeberry is saying, "Trim me."  It has been sheared to clear the driveway but never topped, and now it is intimidating the garage.

I would much rather trim an over-vigorous Leviathan repeatedly than nurse along a languishing Lilliputian.   Mockoranges (Pittosporum tobira variegated) from my pre-native days grow snugly against my garden wall. They are pretty much impossible to kill (I’ve done the experiments: overwater, underwater, deep shade…) but I do need to shape them once or twice a year. People remark on their unusual shape. Because it is unusual to trim a bush in any shape other than a box in this part of the world.

This fifteen-year-old non-native Mockorange (Pittosporum tobira variegated) hugs the wall nicely, because it has been properly trimmed over the years.  It is leggy on the bottom because it was improperly trimmed once, two years ago.  Neighbors who don't trim theirs eventually have fifteen foot tall by ten foot wide pittosporum walls.

If you allow garden-variety gardeners to trim unsupervised, you may produce irreparable damage. Once I hired gardeners to trim. I was yards away, but not watching closely. Those Mockoranges all got miniskirts: bare branches up to three feet. Miniskirts look awkward on almost everybody.  Two years later the shrubs are mostly recovered. (In the gardener’s defense, sprinklers do work better when not blocked by bushes. But 18 inches is sufficient.)

This coyote bush, however, was deliberately trimmed of dead branches and of sprouts at ground level for a sculptural look. What do you think?  

So as I prepared my garden to look its best for the Orange County CNPS Garden Tour (woo hoo!) I got fastidious about my trimming. We must look our best! I have an English Garden effect in my front yard, which works surprisingly well with natives (and well-draining mounded soil) but it does have plants growing up against, and even through, each other. Unchecked, the Island Bush Snapdragon, sagebrushes, and coyote bush would be the only things left.

The Roger's Red (or any other) Grape must be trimmed so it doesn't strangle its neighbors or grow into the next yard. Anybody have a recipe for fresh grape leaves?

Trimming can look natural. I clip rather than shear, for all but the most privet-like plants or the ones furthest in back. (Dwarf Coyote Bush can take a light shearing.) Imagine a deer nibbling the lanky stray shoots off your plants. By trimming a couple of times a year, you don’t notice any “damage”, just plants of a pleasing size and shape. A few natives take special care in trimming: Ceanothus, Manzanita, Flannelbush, Bush Poppy. I will study up on mine before trimming. And dip my clippers in rubbing alcohol to sterilize.

If I hadn't trimmed back the Bee's Bliss Sage (left) and Beach Gum Plant (Grindelia stricta var. platyphylla, right), this Our Lord's Candle Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei), center, would have been invisible.

Some natives require serious trimming to look their best: coyote bush, sagebrushes, and most grasses. Many others will fit the space and look sharp if trimmed once or twice a year.  Any tree wants shaping to give the effect you desire.

My Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) wants a little trimming, but I haven’t decided exactly how yet. Right now it is doing its best to hide the utility closets.

Most natives will stay exactly how you trim them from June to October (their dormant season) and be just fine (except maybe lose all their leaves- don't panic!)  In October or November, you can trim them smaller than you need them to make room for new growth.

My windows are low, so the plants in front of them must be trimmed regularly.  But not flat-topped!  Species Lilac Verbena (Glandularia lilacina) needs to be pinched back in November to make these nice round lilac-studded balls.

Are you hesitant to trim plants?  Not sure what to do?  Call me or another gardening nut over to help. And I in my turn will invite wise friends to help when it's time to trim the tricky Manzanitas.  Good gardening is not a solo sport!

No more mohawks, flat-tops, or never-cut Cousin It looks.  Let's give these hard-working natives the respectable haircuts they deserve. 

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