Resilience - Perfect As You Are.

Shrubs often have a naturally rounded form - no need to control nature.

Thousands of years of evolution ensure she knows what she’s doing!

Plant Sciences Concept:

Over thousands of years of evolution, plant species have developed adaptations that allow them to thrive in their environment. For example, plants must open up tiny pores (called “stomata”) in their leaves to allow carbon dioxide in to fuel photosynthesis. However, opening those pores also allows for water vapor to escape and may threaten water status of the plant if too much is lost but not replenished. These opposing challenges requires plants to find a balance between carbon-growth and water loss. In many cases this balance is achieved through alterations in leaf surface area, orientation, or organization to optimize photosynthesis and efficient water use. The term “water use efficiency” (WUE) is a measure of how much water taken up goes toward photosynthesis and growth processes.

Horticultural Applications:

It is widely appreciated that pruning trees and shrubs will influence both the shape, structure, growth and flower-fruit production. However, it is less well known that pruning practices also alter water use. Consider for example, the practice of shearing or hedging of shrubs. Shearing, as opposed to selective pruning, makes non-specific cuts near the stem tips. This practice removes the terminal growing point (“apical meristem”) or stem tip, causing a proliferation of lateral branches near the cut site. Eventually the repetition of this practice creates a dense exterior canopy that shades out the interior of the shrub, causing die back of the interior leaves.

Changes in plant form and leaf area from pruning practices also correlate with a reduction in water use efficiency of some shrubs. One explanation for this reduction in efficiency is the loss of photosynthesis power normally provided by interior leaves. The interior leaves experience a cooler, shadier, and more humid environment conducive to carbon dioxide uptake and production of sugars from photosynthesis even when the exterior leaves have shut down. When those interior leaves are lost, the plant begins a starvation diet, of sorts, getting a little less energy and food each day limiting growth, weakening defense, and likely reducing the lifespan of the plant. Studies in Arizona showed WUE was highest in unpruned shrubs even when those shrubs received low irrigation volume, and WUE was lowest for frequently pruned shrubs receiving high irrigation volumes. Pruning often is unnecessary to control form or size and may in fact waste water!

Related Student Views, Cultural Associations and Folklore:

"The Huichol Indians of Mexico have a cultural belief that flowers symbolize both women. Further, peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is seen as sharing the feminine beauty and fertility the Huichol Indian women. All plants in this rain garden produce flowers. All flower at different times throughout the year, to produce a display of beauty and fertility worthy of the Huichol Indians cultural value."

~ Justyne Gonzalez, B.S. Plant Sciences - Plant Health Empahsis, Class of 2024.

"An old philosophy that is still taught today is the idea of accepting the good and the bad within us all. We are not perfect, no matter how hard we try to come across as such. In Native American folklore, the redwood tree is a symbol of strength through self-acceptance. In my opinion, the redwood's massive size and impressive longevity represent the idea that all beings are magestic and perfect as they are, and that we should celebrate our unique qualities and strengths."

~Jack Stanis, B.S. Wildlife Conservation, Class of 2024.