IMO, not at all too late. For apples, I consider it too early since I prefer to wait until post-harvest. I figure as long as the pruning cuts have time to heal, it's not too late.

Azaleas can be planted anytime. Fall is a good time. Whether to plant in spring or fall is always a question. Fall is normally the best time because roots on a new plant need help establishing themselves. The shallow root system can't take in all the water it may need to survive and a drought can spell disaster. Do not allow the soil to dry out but make sure they are planted in acidic soil with good drainage. Mature plants are much hardier and Mother Nature seems to take good care of them under normal conditions. Care for new plants for 2-3 years to help them get established. One problem with fall planting is that it makes a plant more susceptible to frost heave in climates where freezing and thawing cycles are common. In that case, rhododendrons are best planted in the spring. It must be noted that maintaining the proper moisture level in the summer is very difficult after spring planting. When buying plants in the fall, it is risky to buy potted plants or balled and burlapped plants that were in a garden center all summer. It is best to buy field grown plants that are freshly dug. Most rhododendron and azalea plants sold at nurseries and garden centers are sold in containers or have a root-ball that is covered with burlap. These plants have a potentially serious problem when the roots reach the container and start circling inside the pot. They become pot bound or root bound. These roots must be cut so they don't continue to grow and start strangling other roots. Many apparently healthy plants die when the roots start strangling each other. To prevent this, it is necessary to remove the plant from the container and cut the roots from the soil surface to the bottom at several points around the root ball to cut any of these circling roots. When working with roots, make sure the plant is thoroughly watered. Any roots that dry out will die. Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow azaleas.

Hi Oxankle,. thanks for your reply. I think I'm probably going to prune it now, as pitangaddiego suggests. I just have a kind of umbrella-like canopy on top of a long stalk at the moment. I was just so hoping to get at least one fig from them :-( Did your 'top' root quickly? Think I'd better try to do something like that -- otherwise what a waste. Pitangadiego -- think you're right! Guess that's what I'll do! I feel like a murderer cutting off all those beautiful leaves, though! Thanks for the link -- it looks like a very interesting site, and something to look forward to at the weekend! There's something about figs that call to you! Maybe it's the ancientness of them? I have olives too, and find myself considering pomegranates, and even dates!!!!! Ashita

Denise, Landscape roses like Knockout Roses are very vigorous growers, so you prune them to give yourself some control over them. Otherwise they can get amazingly big and start looking kind of wild. The "rules" for pruning them are not necessarily the same as they are for some other roses like hybrid teas because they are landscape shrub roses. Some people don't prune them their first year because they want to get a good idea of how the natural shape of the Knockout rose is going to progress. Some folks prune them back only every other year because they want them to be huge monsters but know they have to maintain some sort of order and control. You just have to figure out what works for you and the space you have as well as the vigor of the particular Knockout you have. Some Knockout types get larger than others and some grow more vigrously. When you prune in late winter to early spring, you are doing so in order to control the shape and size of the bush, and to keep new growth coming out near the bottom of the plant. Remember that I mentioned my mom quit pruning her roses and the base of the plants became very ugly. Well, that "ugly" is what you want to avoid. If you don't prune, then the new growth comes out higher and higher every year and the bottom of the plant looks awful. I haven't grown Knockouts, but they probably should be pruned back to the 5, 6 or 7 largest canes each spring--removing what you need to in order to maintain the shape you like and that fits in with your landscape. You always remove the oldest and woodiest canes, because as they get older they just get woodier and woodier and don't look that great. Because Knockout Roses can be very vigorous growers if planted in ideal conditions, they sometimes need "corrective" pruning in the middle of the growing season when they send out an occasional limb that just shoots out from nothing to 2 or 3 feet almost overnight and is growing in the "wrong" direction, like directly into the wall of the house or a pathway or whatever. I don't think you have to deadhead Knockout blooms though, as they are self-cleaning. A friend of mine describes the more vigorous Knockouts as taking on the appearance of a drunken spider if left too long without corrective pruning, with long legs sticking out this way and that way, and she's not the only person I've heard describe them that way. I have a couple of David Austin English Roses that get that same "drunken spider" look in the middle of the summer, especially after a big rainy spell. They just send out canes out of nowhere that go this way and that way. I prune them out as needed and don't seal the cuts. They heal over just fine on their own. I googled and found you info on "Pruning Knockout Roses" and linked it below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Knockout Roses