Hi,
Apologies in advance for what will be a very basic question for most!!
Several months back I planted several shrubs including Mahonia media charity
after receiving advice from this newsgroup. All are doing reasonably well.
From the advice label I am aware that after flowering that I am meant to
remove "3-4 inches of each leaf rosette". Does this mean that I cut each
flower spike which would probably mean cutting back so that only 1 or 2
inches are left! Also I note that a few of the leaves have some "rust" on
them. I can't see any obvious nasties. How do I treat this? I have included
a link to a few photos,

regards,

David

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dan.../ph//my_photos

"David" wrote in message
...
Hi,
Apologies in advance for what will be a very basic question for most!!
Several months back I planted several shrubs including Mahonia media charity
after receiving advice from this newsgroup. All are doing reasonably well.
From the advice label I am aware that after flowering that I am meant to
remove "3-4 inches of each leaf rosette". Does this mean that I cut each
flower spike which would probably mean cutting back so that only 1 or 2
inches are left! Also I note that a few of the leaves have some "rust" on
them. I can't see any obvious nasties. How do I treat this? I have included
a link to a few photos,

regards,
David
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dan...=ph&store=&pro
did=&.done=http%3a//uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos


I'd not prune them at all !
Though I suppose it might make it bush out. They don't grow very quickly though,
so I'd wait a year or two.
Sorry - no idea about the rust.
Jenny

in my opinion........i'd throw the advice lable away and go with your own instincts or the opinions of a reputable garden writer.

the " rust " is more likely to be merely old leaves showing their age...gather them from the soil surface once they fall if you feel like.

with very young shrubs it can be worth preserving energy by not allowing fruits to mature so you could remove those if you want.

"JennyC" wrote in message
...
I'd not prune them at all !
Though I suppose it might make it bush out. They don't grow very quickly
though,
so I'd wait a year or two.
Sorry - no idea about the rust.
Jenny

"Eyebright" wrote in message
...


in my opinion........i'd throw the advice lable away and go with your
own instincts or the opinions of a reputable garden writer.

the " rust " is more likely to be merely old leaves showing their
age...gather them from the soil surface once they fall if you feel
like.

with very young shrubs it can be worth preserving energy by not
allowing fruits to mature so you could remove those if you want.


--
Eyebright

Hi, thanks to you both for your replies. My intention is to allow my Mahonia
to "bush" out as much as possible, albeit at the moment it is a young
shrub. I see that there are a few treatments available for rust at my local
garden centre, if it persists then I may be forced into taking action,

thanks again

David

David wrote in message
...
"JennyC" wrote in message
...
I'd not prune them at all !
Though I suppose it might make it bush out. They don't grow very quickly
though,
so I'd wait a year or two.
Sorry - no idea about the rust.
Jenny

"Eyebright" wrote in message
...


in my opinion........i'd throw the advice lable away and go with your
own instincts or the opinions of a reputable garden writer.

the " rust " is more likely to be merely old leaves showing their
age...gather them from the soil surface once they fall if you feel
like.

with very young shrubs it can be worth preserving energy by not
allowing fruits to mature so you could remove those if you want.


--
Eyebright

Hi, thanks to you both for your replies. My intention is to allow my
Mahonia
to "bush" out as much as possible, albeit at the moment it is a young
shrub. I see that there are a few treatments available for rust at my
local
garden centre, if it persists then I may be forced into taking action,

thanks again

David


Hi David,

Just looked at your pictures. As the others say, I don't think you need to
worry about pruning unless, as advised, you want to remove the berries.
Personally, I have always found that the birds take them. Also note that
small birds sometimes take nectar from the flowers. It's not a problem -
just enjoy watching them. Your plant is still very young, and will branch
out as it grows.
As to the 'rust' problem, I'm not even sure it is rust. I peered as closely
as I could at those markings and they seem sunken. Most rusts present as
raised spots. Have another look at the affected leaves. It may just be
that they've been grazed by some bug or other, and in all probability the
bug responsible is long gone. Don't be in too much of a hurry to spray;
small infestations of either rust or bugs can be simply dealt with by
removing the damaged leaves - both from the plant and from the ground. If
you're convinced it's rust, after cleaning up, mulch the ground under the
plant to prevent spores reinfecting. Since the weather's been dry, water
the plant well before applying the mulch.

Spider

"Spider" wrote in message
...

David wrote in message
...
Hi David,

Just looked at your pictures. As the others say, I don't think you need
to
worry about pruning unless, as advised, you want to remove the berries.
Personally, I have always found that the birds take them. Also note that
small birds sometimes take nectar from the flowers. It's not a problem -
just enjoy watching them. Your plant is still very young, and will branch
out as it grows.
As to the 'rust' problem, I'm not even sure it is rust. I peered as
closely
as I could at those markings and they seem sunken. Most rusts present as
raised spots. Have another look at the affected leaves. It may just be
that they've been grazed by some bug or other, and in all probability the
bug responsible is long gone. Don't be in too much of a hurry to spray;
small infestations of either rust or bugs can be simply dealt with by
removing the damaged leaves - both from the plant and from the ground. If
you're convinced it's rust, after cleaning up, mulch the ground under the
plant to prevent spores reinfecting. Since the weather's been dry, water
the plant well before applying the mulch.

Spider

Hi, Spider. Thankyou for your advice. Yes the markings are sunken rather
than raised, on some leaves they are just a few brown marks, on others
almost half the leaf is affected. I have had another close look at almost
all the leaves and I can't see any visible bugs. On a few healthy leaves on
lower branches there are white markings, rather like the salt residue you
get on concrete. The markings don't come off easily unless I wet my finger.
This may have nothing to do with the problem, of course!
Apart from that the plant is reasonably healthy,

regards,

David

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 15:42:04 +0000 (UTC), "David"
wrote:

...I see that there are a few treatments available for rust at my local
garden centre, if it persists then I may be forced into taking action,

I don't consider plants that have to be kept on life support very good
choices for the garden. This includes those with chronic diseases that
require regular treatment.

You *might* want to try meticulous hygiene and see if you can bring
the rust under control that way: remove every infected leaf (including
any that fall to the ground) and burn them. It may be like the
camellia blight we have here that causes the flowers to turn brown:
careful removal of infected and dead flowers can control it.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

David wrote in message
...

"Spider" wrote in message
...

David wrote in message
...
Hi David,

Just looked at your pictures. As the others say, I don't think you need
to
worry about pruning unless, as advised, you want to remove the berries.
Personally, I have always found that the birds take them. Also note
that
small birds sometimes take nectar from the flowers. It's not a
problem -
just enjoy watching them. Your plant is still very young, and will
branch
out as it grows.
As to the 'rust' problem, I'm not even sure it is rust. I peered as
closely
as I could at those markings and they seem sunken. Most rusts present
as
raised spots. Have another look at the affected leaves. It may just be
that they've been grazed by some bug or other, and in all probability
the
bug responsible is long gone. Don't be in too much of a hurry to spray;
small infestations of either rust or bugs can be simply dealt with by
removing the damaged leaves - both from the plant and from the ground.
If
you're convinced it's rust, after cleaning up, mulch the ground under
the
plant to prevent spores reinfecting. Since the weather's been dry,
water
the plant well before applying the mulch.

Spider

Hi, Spider. Thankyou for your advice. Yes the markings are sunken rather
than raised, on some leaves they are just a few brown marks, on others
almost half the leaf is affected. I have had another close look at almost
all the leaves and I can't see any visible bugs. On a few healthy leaves
on
lower branches there are white markings, rather like the salt residue you
get on concrete. The markings don't come off easily unless I wet my
finger.
This may have nothing to do with the problem, of course!
Apart from that the plant is reasonably healthy,

regards,

David



Hi David,

I don't think there's a connection between the white residue you can remove
and the brown lesions you can't. No doubt you didn't even notice the
lesions when they were fresh as they were probably still more or less green.
You are seeing them now because they have healed over like a scab.

By all means keep an eye on the shrub, but it doesn't sound too serious to
me. If the weather in your area is as good as it is here in SE London (16
deg.C), it would be a good idea to feed and water now so your Mahonia can
start building up more leafy growth to replace the damaged leaves, which may
not be photosynthesising as efficiently as they might. One thing that does
concern me slightly is that the white residue could be fertiliser splash
from a previous feed. Is this possible? If so, it could burn the foliage
and is potentially more harmful to your plant than any grazing bug.

Spider

"Spider" wrote in message
...


Hi David,

I don't think there's a connection between the white residue you can
remove
and the brown lesions you can't. No doubt you didn't even notice the
lesions when they were fresh as they were probably still more or less
green.
You are seeing them now because they have healed over like a scab.

By all means keep an eye on the shrub, but it doesn't sound too serious to
me. If the weather in your area is as good as it is here in SE London (16
deg.C), it would be a good idea to feed and water now so your Mahonia can
start building up more leafy growth to replace the damaged leaves, which
may
not be photosynthesising as efficiently as they might. One thing that
does
concern me slightly is that the white residue could be fertiliser splash
from a previous feed. Is this possible? If so, it could burn the foliage
and is potentially more harmful to your plant than any grazing bug.

Spider

Hi, Spider
thanks for the reply. Weather conditions are not too bad here now, 11C
at present although it reached 16C at the weekend. I'll go with your advice
re feeding and watering. I haven't fed the plant up till now as it was
planted in a good soil with plenty compost and then mulched. One explanation
for the residue could be that it's coming off the screenblock wall behind
the plant, although no other plants are showing the same! Hopefully it won't
be a problem,

regards,

David