Producing Woody Cut Stems10 things beginners need to know...

Richard Uva, Owner, Federalsburg, Maryland

10 things beginners want to know...1. What products do florists want? 2. Which woodies are productive in small spaces?3. What spacing and field layout should I use? 4. How to plan for a woody plant installation?5. What management is needed?6. How can weeds be controlled? 7. How to prune and train them? 8. How can blooms be forced early?9. What are THE Profitable Crops to Grow?” 10. Where can I get plants?

1. What products do florists want?

• First, lets talk about why they use woody stems.

• I will show some popular products.

Size for large scale design.

Accentuate design lines.Rustic feel.

Architectural look. Woodies add contrast and interest

points.

Florists need to decorate for holidays and

seasons.

Woody plants are the harbingers of seasons!– Fall berries– Christmas Holly– Late winter pussy willow– Spring lilac– Most sales are Oct-May

Some woody stem products are symbols of deep cultural significance

Stem Dogwoods

• Autumn-winter• Red stem

dogwood “stick dogwoods”

Winterberry Holly• Deciduous holly for

Holiday use

• Ample soil moisture

• Male and female plants need for berry set

• Selective harvest or alternate year harvest

Evergreens and Holly foliage with our without berries

• Limited to Christmas market

• Male needed for berry set to take place.

• Selective harvest

Southern Magnolia• Evergreen especially

desirable for holiday use.

• Wreath use.

• Grows fairly rapidly.

Quince• Early January

harvest and force

• Thorns

• Scale has been a problem.

• Selective harvest or alternate year.

Forsythia• Can force in late

January.

• Change forcing water weekly, use preservative.

• Can cut to 1 ft above ground every year.

Cherry Blossom

• Spring

• Tent caterpillar and deer rub.

• Selective harvest or alternate year harvest.

Willows

• Pussy Willow--spring• Curly Willow--dry or hold in

cooler and use year round.• Fantail Willow--fall use• Aphids• Tolerates moisture• Harvest every year, clear cut

Pussy willow Curly Willow

LilacSyringa vulgaris hybrids

• Late frost caution• Pseudomonas

syringae • Lilac borer• Scale• Selective harvest

or alternate year harvest

PeeGee “type” HydrangeasHydrangea paniculata grandiflora cultivars

• Limelight is the best cultivar

• Flowers on new wood

• Can cut back every year

• Other hydrangeas possible

2. Which woodies are productive in SMALL spaces?

• WINTER--Pussy willow, curly willow, red stem dogwood, forsythia. You get a lot of stems in a small area.

• SPRING—Mock Orange, Black Chokeberry, Viburnum opulus roseum, Viburnum 'Mary Milton’, Viburnum ‘Popcorn’

• SUMMER--Hydrangea ‘Lime Light’, ninebark, weigelia, purple smokebush

• Small size, high value, but lower stem count: quince, Harry Lauder’s walking stick, ilex

Mock Orange vase life is not good but it is great for spring event work. Euonymus (right) is a good “green” to have around

for small floral work.

Large Plants NOT for Small Gardens:

• peach• crabapple• redbud• flowering dogwood• southern magnolia• Japanese flowering cherries• saucer magnolia

3. What spacing and field layout should I use?

Either plant it Like an orchard or…

incorporate woody cuts into your landscape. Many suitable species are found in landscapes, hedgerows, and foundation plantings.

High Density Planting

– Many plants, each one small, less time to first harvest

– You buy more liners (plug to pencil size plants)

– alley hedgerow– Can mechanize culture– Fabric/plastic with herbicide

strips on side– 3 ft in row 12 ft for drive alley.

Low density planting

• 8 or more ft in row x 15 ft or more between.• Fewer plants but more years until harvest because

you need to let the plants grow bigger.• Buy fewer but larger plants.• With time and growth, larger scaffold branches fill the

space.• Mulch circle weed control with herbicide spot

treatments.

4. How to plan for a woody plant installation?

• Pre-plant soil preparation to meet your organic matter, pH and phosphorus needs.

• Eradicate all perennial weeds and turf grass the year before with a non-selective herbicide or repeated cultivation.

• Planting—March/April for bare root or container stock. September planting of container grown stock is ideal.

• Make sure your planting site and irrigation system is prepared

before of arrival of the stock.

• Irrigation and weed control is particularly important during the first season of establishment.

5. What management is needed?Depending on your site and your yield needs for these crops the opportunity for very low maintenance production is a possibility!

• Fertilizer rates as promulgated by the Maryland Nutrient Management Program. See, Commercial Cut Flower Production, Fact sheet 808, U. Md. Extension. --I use less.

• Weed control: mulch, fabric or herbicide. Or try all three!

• Irrigation--an inch or more per week. I recommend drip lines in-the-row with grass strips between rows.

Pests• Tent caterpillars on Prunus• Deer on Malus and others• Japanese beetles esp. pussy willow• Aphids on willows and others• Scale

– Info in: The Cut Flower Quarterly, Spring 2012, Stanton Gill

Lilac Problems: scale, pseudomonas, frost, fall blooming/dormancy issues, borer!

Maybe this crop is best left for Penn., New England and upstate N.Y. or other cooler areas.

6. How can weeds be controlled?

• Leave a weed-free zone. A 3 ft mulch circle or strip down the row.

• If you are just mowing you are not doing enough, esp. with young plants.

You don’t want to be a member of this club!

Weed Control

• Non-selective burndown herbicide--Diquat is used around ornamentals.

• Glyphosate should not touch leaves or bark.

• Preemergentherbicides: Snapshot and Pendulum (both granular) are easy to apply.

Herbicide

The best herbicide reference is: “Chemical Weed Control in Ornamentals” J. Neal, North Carolina Ag. Chemical Manual.

7. How to prune and train them? Product on new growth only.• Harvest, then cut these back

every year once plants are vigorous and established:

• Willows, forsythia, red stem dogwood, peach, callicarpa.

• Cut to 1-2’ high.

Product consists of two year’s growth. • Often don’t need additional

pruning unless they get over-grown:

• Ilex, crabapple, lilac, cherry, quince

• If they get overgrown and twiggy, make large renovation cuts every few years.

Spring cut back- willows, stick dogwoods, etc.

Before spring cut back After cut back

cutting back/ harvesting

Alternate year harvest: In year 1 they are harvested, cut back, and grow ‘whips’ by the end of summer. In year 2 develop flower buds

on side shoots and harvested the following winter/spring.

Thinning out the crown on quince--remove overgrown, broken, bent, and horizontal growth after harvest.

8. How can blooms be forced early?Forsythia, quince, cherry, redbud, peach, plum

• Harvested during warmer winter weather, or steady weather, not cold snaps.

• Cool greenhouse or barn above freezing at night. 70°day, 45-50° night.

• Chlorine tablets in water and / or change water as needed.

9. What are THE Profitable Crops to Grow? There is no answer to this question. Instead, ask: “What crops could be profitable for ME”

•If your market is retail customers (farmers market, etc.) & your neighborhood florists, grow fast growing crops and things people know and like, i.e. pussy willow, curly willow, red stem dogwood, forsythia. You can get fast return and sell reasonable amount of quantity.

•If your market is high-end floral designer and event florists, you can add some high value and more unusual crops, i.e. quince, flowering dogwood, Japanese apricot. However, with these crops, you can get a lot of money per bunch, but probably won’t sell very much of them.

Price and YieldPrice per Bunch by Customer Type

Wholesale Florist/Supermarket Florist Shop Retail

100s of bunches 5-10 Bunches 1 bunchWinterberry Holly $5-7 $10-12 $15Quince $15 $30 ?Pussy Willow $3-6 $8-10 $10-12Lime Light Hydrangea ? $10 $25

Stems Production Per Plant EstimateSmall Large

Winterberry Holly 1-2' 5-stem bunch 5 20Quince 5-6' 5-stem bunch 5 10Pussy Willow 3-4' 10-stem bunch 40 100Lime Light Hydrangea 2-3' 5-stem bunch 25 50

10. Where can I get plants?

before ordering check sellers minimumsSmall cell-grown and bareroot liners-- quantity

Heritage Seedlings, Salem OregonSchaeffer Nursery, Winchester, TennesseeSpring Meadow Nursery, Grand Haven, MichiganManor View Farm, Maryland

Great source of quart and gallon sized stock-- quantityCumberland Nursery, Millville, New Jersey

Just need a few plants? Consult a local nurseryman that sells retail from their nursery. Heartwood Nursery, Felton, Pa has a nice selection of Ilex and sells retail.

Resources• Bachmann, J., 2002. Woody Ornamentals for Cut Flower

Growers. ATTRA, https://attra.ncat.org/

• Gill, Stanton et al., Production of Woody Plants as Cut Flowers. U. of Maryland, http://ipmnet.umd.edu/cutflower/cut_pubs.htm

• Greer, L. and Dole, J.M., 2009. Woody Cut Stems for Growers and Florists. Timber Press, Inc., Portland.

• Jenkins, David, F. Woody Plants as Cut Flowers. In: Proceedings of the 4th National Conference on Specialty Cut Flowers, Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 1-4, 1991, Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, Inc.