Pruning and winter go hand in hand and play an essential part of a plant’s care whether it is a tree, shrub or groundcover. July in the Cape is rainy, windy and cold outside but this is the time to do pruning to encourage healthy growth, flowers and fruit for summer.
Why do we need to prune?
1. Your first objective is to maintain the health of your plants by keeping your plants free from dead or diseased branches, and encourage new growth and healthy-looking plants;
2. Prune to shape your plant as it grows, especially when it is young to make it bushier or more compact when using plants as a hedge;
3. To prevent a plant getting too large for the space it was originally planted in, or when blocking a beautiful view;
4. Plants can become old and leggy, but you can rejuvenate them by pruning them back, especially fast-growing plants needs regular pruning;
5. Prune to correct some defect like eliminating branches that rub against other branches, or so that more light or water can reach the inner branches or improve air circulation. Pruning branches to correct the balance between the crown and roots promotes healthy plants;
6. If your plant is a flowering or fruiting type, you need to prune to encourage the best conditions for prolific flowering and fruiting. Additionally, this allows air and sun to reach fruit in the centre;
7. To achieve sculptural shapes, known as topiaries, the two-dimensional pattern achieved by pruning and tying fruit trees or shrubs to a frame (known as espalier). The deliberate dwarfing of certain trees or shrubs that mimic the shape of fully-grown trees in a small container (known as bonsai). These are all fashion novelties, and these differently trained or shaped plants are used as an architectural elaboration of your house.
Pruning is more than simply cutting of branches of a tree or a shrub to keep it from overgrowing. Pruning is the key to controlling the size or shape of your plants, their flowers and fruit. It also promotes new life in your garden as well as healthier and better-looking plants.
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My favourite houseplants aren’t actually that unusual or exotic. The plants that make me happy are, and you have guessed right, yes, it is succulents! I love to use them in my house, not only as houseplants but also in informal flower and plant arrangements. Succulents remind me that beauty can be found in the ordinary and that not everything has to be structured in life.
The surprising variety of sizes, shapes and colours makes them stunning decorative houseplants. Miniature varieties such as Haworthia will fit on the narrowest windowsill, and trailing types such as Senecio (Curio), provide striking displays in hanging baskets. They are among the easiest of plants to grow indoors and are every bit as beautiful as they are rewarding. Anyone interested in foliage house plants should consider growing succulents indoor.
Growing Succulents Indoors requires 3 basic rules
Start with the right soil and container
If you are planting your own succulents, buy and use a fast-draining cactus mix. If you can’t get hold of a cactus mix, make your own by using 4 parts potting soil and 1 part either coarse sand or perlite. Also, ensure that your pots have enough drainage holes as good drainage is vital. Because succulents grow slowly, they seldom need repotting.
Watering your indoor succulents
Killing your succulents by overwatering them is far more common than underwatering them. Succulents like it when the soil dries out between watering. You must know that indoor succulent plants require a certain amount of neglect. They need little watering since they have the ability to store their own water supplies within their fleshy leaves, stems and roots. If you water small pots once a week and large pots about every second week, it will be sufficient, but always check and feel first if the soil is dry. Remember they need less watering in winter than in summer.
PS. If you were lucky to receive a succulent houseplant in a container without drainage holes, you have to water even less.
PPS. In addition to watering, fertilize every spring with a liquid fertilizer.
Light
The trend of modern architecture towards larger windows and open interior spaces, as well as the use of air-conditioning for heating and cooling, provide excellent growing conditions for indoor succulents. They grow best in bright light, and even a few hours of direct sunlight will help to develop their best foliage colours. Just imagine how Sempervivum tectorum, Euphorbia triculli and the Euphorbia milii will flower in bright light. NB: please remember Euphorbia species are poisonous and caution should be taken when using indoors. Portulacaria afra, Senecio ficiodes, Cotyledon orbiculata and flanaganii, Crassula ovata and muscosa, Aeonium arboreum, and Echeveria elegans will get leggy if not in bright light. East, south or west windows that get a few hours of direct sunlight, is the best position for succulents. Sansevieria trifasciata and Aloe vera are the exceptions and they will tolerate fairly low light levels.
Succulents, given the proper conditions and a minimum of basic care, will provide pleasure for years.
Please send us some photos of your indoor (or outdoor) succulents. We will love to see them!
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