The Coastal Gardener:

Since I’m not paid to write this column, I can pretty much express my gardening opinions and say what I want. Besides, I’ve got a day job.

My children ridicule me for often driving through unknown neighborhoods, looking at plants and exploring for interesting gardens, curious of what I might find. Sometimes I participate in this odd habit with full, premeditated intention, weaving through the neighborhood. Perhaps you’ve seen me.

Other times I’m going someplace in particular, but to get there, I’ll avoid the main streets and weave through unknown neighborhoods, so I can see what’s going on in the gardens.

I always take my camera along — just in case.

If you look at enough gardens, you can find any number of surprises. The overuse and misuse of sheared plants is one of the most common blunders I see.

In certain gardens, mostly those with a formal style, sheared plants are an important component of the design. But the gardens I see aren’t following the codes set for French parterres, English knot gardens or old walled gardens. Instead, these prisoner plants are being subjected to relentless and serious plant torture.

Over-shearing results in shrubs and other garden plants resembling lollipops, green meatballs, giant doorknobs or even hockey pucks. In a soft whisper, plant snobs refer to these over-clipped scenes as “graveyards” and “cemeteries,” and to the technique as “poodleballing.” Add a grass lawn and these scenes look more like a pool table than a landscape.

Of course, this form of wham-bam plant surgery isn’t limited to home gardens. Many of the top practitioners of the craft have honed their skills for years at local shopping centers, school grounds and apartment complexes.

All too often this technique begins because the plant’s caretaker doesn’t know about other methods of pruning. Plants are naturally more irregular in shape. Chopping them into geometric shapes renders them akin to static walls or pillars. The problem is that after a plant is sheared several times it is almost impossible to bring it back to its more natural form.

Aside from considerations of taste, there are plant health reasons to avoid the overuse of this pruning technique. Shearing stimulates bushy regrowth, creating a twiggy outer shell, which gradually becomes thicker and larger since it must be cut a little farther each time in order to retain its greenery. The leaves on this outer shell block sunlight from reaching deeper, encouraging the leaves to shed from the inner branches.

Conversely, selective pruning with hand shears and making individual cuts inside the canopy of the plant will reduce a shrub’s size while retaining its natural character.

Shearing is a high-maintenance chore. The growth that results from these cuts grows straight out rapidly and looks rather wild, necessitating quick and repeated re-shearing. It’s a vicious and obsessive cycle.

The first shearing may be a quick and gratifying experience. A few more shearings may still feel good, but a habit is developing. Now the plant is locked in; addicted to more and more shearing, with no end in sight. One shearing leads to the next shearing. Soon, you have a plant that is a “shearing junkie,” quickly in need of another fix.

Meatballs and lollipops don’t belong in most gardens. Put the hedge shears away, get a pair of hand pruners and begin down the path to recovery. I’ll be your sponsor.

Ask Ron

Question: I planted milkweed this spring in the hopes of attracting some Monarch butterflies to my garden. Although I’ve seen a few adults in the garden, I still don’t have any caterpillars on my plants. Any suggestions?

Erica

Answer: Be patient. In my experience the best time to find the beautiful Monarch caterpillars on your milkweed plants (Asclepias species) is during the next couple of months. As fall sets in and winter approaches, the adult Monarchs wandering through your garden will almost certainly find your milkweed plants. You might even see the females depositing their creamy-yellow eggs on the underside of the milkweed leaves. Wait a little longer, Erica. I suspect that you will begin seeing Monarch caterpillars on your plants shortly.

ASK RON

your toughest gardening questions, and the expert nursery staff at Roger’s Gardens will come up with an answer. Please include your name, phone number and city, and limit queries to 30 words or fewer. E-mail stumpthe gardener@rogersgardens.com, or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

RON VANDERHOFF is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens, Corona del Mar.