Arm yourself with a pruning saw, a pair of loppers that can cut up to two inches, a good pair of hand pruners, a water jug, a wide bream hat, sunscreen and a can of wasp and hornet freeze and get ready to sweat (I know you lady gardeners ‘glow’)!

Be sure your saw, loppers, and pruners are sharp and in good working order as this will make your pruning easier. What you are cutting will appreciate it as well (you would not want someone cutting on you with a dull scalpel).

Azaleas are getting ready to set their flower buds for next year, so it is very important to do any pruning on these plants right away. Even if you pruned them hard right after they bloomed, you can still do any touch up pruning to manage any growth that might have occurred since the last pruning.

Any of the repeat blooming azaleas (Encore, Red Slipper) should be pruned right after they flower. If you prune fairly hard, you will likely loose some of the next flush of blooms; however, they should get back in sync fairly quickly, providing you multiple blooms.

Gardenias can be a little tricky as well. There is a variety called “August Beauty” that blooms in August.

If you have this variety, you will want to delay pruning until after they bloom in August. Other Gardenias and the Dwarf Gardenias, if they need shaping, can be pruned as soon as they finish flowering.

Indian Hawthorn can be pruned as needed. Watch out for the leaf spot disease that attacks these plants. Honor Guard does a good job of keeping this fungus in check; however, this disease will always be out there so regular spraying is a must. Also, when spraying fungicides, it is important to switch chemical classes to avoid resistance.

Contact a local arborist for pruning trees that have limbs rubbing on your roof or are potentially dangerous.

Many trees were damaged almost 20 years ago during Hurricane Hugo in the Charleston area, and the rot in certain areas has grown to a dangerous level in certain trees.

If you remove a lot of foliage when pruning, remember this foliage use to keep the roots of the plant cool. Some cotton burr compost used as a mulch will help cool the roots and provide nutrients to the plants. If you are taking a vacation this summer and have St. Augustine grass, be sure to put out an insecticide to protect your lawn from ‘the nasty rascal, the chinch bug’. Chinch bugs can do serious damage in a very short period of time.

Fire ants, yellow jackets, fleas, mosquitoes, flies, gray leaf spot, salt water damage, moles, roaches and the weather seem to be other hot topics at Possum’s this week.

(Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply, 481 Long Point Rd in Mount Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511).  Fax your questions to 406-2700 or e-mail them to your newspaper’s editors.  You can call in your questions to the Garden Clinic, Saturdays 11-11:30 a.m., on News Radio 94.3 FM (721-TALK).  

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