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Pruning for Houseplants and Maintaining with Rainwater Tanks



When you have a green thumb, then you often take care of your plants extremely well compared to others, you monitor each and every one of your beloved houseplants. There a lot of flowering houseplants you can grow at homebut keeping them healthy and in shape is a must, and one of the many things of keeping your plants in good shape is pruning them the right way, not just carelessly trimming their branches off everywhere to satisfy your needs. You also need to consider other factors in pruning carefully your houseplants, and in this article, you can find out when and how to prune your houseplants the right way and other plant treatments with the help of rainwater tanks.

 

As a passionate gardener, you would know that most plants can actually benefit from pruning on a regular basis–most preferably annual pruning. It may be hard on you cutting your own plants but by doing so, you are making them healthier and fresher than ever, it also encourages new growth and renewal–for those who are just new to plant caring, you may wonder what pruning is. Pruning is a method of selective removal of particular parts of a plant, namely the branches, buds, or even roots, and by this way, pruning actually removes deadwood, shaping or redirecting the growth of your plant thus sustaining, or better yet, improving your plants health, reducing from all those risks for them and for you–falling branches in your case.

 

Basically what pruning means is carefully cutting off parts of plants which would harm you and the people around them. So knowing how and when to prune a plant is important for you as a gardener.

 

The right pruning tools

 

It is always better to know the right tools before engaging into any activity, in this case, the right pruning tools for an ease and a best quality to do the job. Sharp tools can make the job easier for you, also cleaning them is a must because having the right tools is crucial in keeping your plants healthy all the time.

 

There are four basic pruning tools to consider and these are:

  1. Hand pruners – these are a type of scissors used for cutting plants. This tool is strong and sharp enough to cut through thick and hard branches of trees and shrubs.
  2. Loppers – these are just larger type of scissors for cutting plants, usually operated with both hands, and has a long handle for pruning thicker branches that hand pruners can handle.
  3. Shearers – these are the for shearing hedges and larger types of trees and shrubs that a pair of loppers couldn't cut down. 
  4. Saws – these aren't your typical saw that you see around your DIY tool box for cutting woods. These are the kinds that are handy and can usually be handled properly whilst cutting a branch. These have quite larger teeth too that could easily saw its way through a thick branch.

 

Knowing which plants to prune

 

There are tricks in knowing which plants to prune and when, spotting flowering and fruiting plants are one of those because they are very much preferred to be prune especially if they are dormant, that would be between late winter and early spring.

 

There are also some that their new buds would start setting as the old ones fall, like spring blooming trees and shrubs. In this case, these will be pruned after flowering, either that or you risk pruning off those new settled buds together with the old.

 

And then there are these kind of plants–that really needs to be pruned for a regular basis, pinching or cutting off the withered flowers that are topped with the newly bloomed.

 

When do you prune?

 

Pruning earlier won't harm your plants in the long run though, but it can result to decrease growth rate of flowers and fruits,on the other hand, pruning too late than usual will definitely be harmful or highly fatal for your plants. Pruning will also depend on the plant and the season. 

 

So the important thing to remember here is that to prune in the correct and opportune season like in the dormant season for summer and autumn plants, that would mean pruning it on between late winter to early spring, and in the cases of spring flowers, pruning them as soon as their flowers fade or wither in late spring to early summer.

 

Maintaining your plants after pruning

 

After you prune your botanical beauts, you also need to keep in mind other important and key aspects. Things like getting enough sunlight–this only depends on the plants if they can survive without the shade or with it. You must get to know your plants first in order for you to be aware of their needs.

 

One thing is for sure, most plants would be watered from time to time in order for that growth rate to be exemplary, having rainwater harvesting system can not only provide you pure and fresh water straight from a free source, it can also help you cut down your water bill expenses for all the watering you need to do for your maintenance.

 

Having to take care of your plants by your own hands is hard work but watching your beloved plants bloom and grow the way you want them to be is rewarding enough for all those work. Taking care of your beauts is tough love, but it is lovely nonetheless and once you get the rhythm and momentum going on how to prune properly then the result would be abundant.

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