A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum The Seed and Cuttings Exchange Prickly Pear

I majorly pruned (which should have been done much sooner)
my prickely pear

So now, I have lots of pads to give away once they scab over. I kept enough for me to re-plant much of the area, and for me to give away.


If anyone is interested, PM me your address...

Carol - Just wondering why you needed to prune them? Do you not like when they grow "ears" on top? I only prune mine back when they are either growing onto the walkway next to that garden, or onto the grass on the other side. Or if they get top heavy with too many pieces on top.

By the way, they make very nice container plants and are very forgiving in this especially hot and dry summer we are having this year. They will winter over in containers here in zone 6 as well.

Lynne:
since I had not kept a proper reign on them over the years, they had gotten too big & floppy for lack of a better description. The bottom base of some were more than an inch thick.
---many were schriveled up & dried so they had to go as well. The reason I began now is they were so tall that they were leaning against the A/C unit in such a way that Rod was concerned that they were blocking the unit's air flow.

So, I kept a lot of the tops that were a nice size so I can replant the area. I took out all but one huge one in the corner next to the deck.

About the container--thanks for that info---I have one pad a pot now---but I need to move it as it gets too much water--(I added a dwarf angelonia to the same pot) So when I do that I will add a few "friends" from 'cuttings.

Thanks for the info.