Brenda Beust Smith photo

Years ago, my sister, fearful of neighborhood break-ins, wanted a thorny plant for her back fence. I had a positively lethal Seven Sisters roses that never bloomed. We dug it up, and it thrived for her too . . . but didn’t bloom.

When I mentioned this to the late, great rosarian Margaret Sharp, she said to beat it at night with a broom. Why at night? I asked. So the neighbors won’t see, Margaret said.

Audrey did. The rose bloomed magnificently the next spring. I always think of this when folks complain about something not blooming. But somehow, one hesitates to recommend beating anything.

So I turned to my secret stash of garden gurus. Does beating really work? Most had heard of this, but usually secondhand. My story and Susan Harris’ were the only first-hand observations.

Susan Harris, a Walker County Master Gardener, had a dogwood that wouldn’t bloom. She complained to an older neighbor, a fantastic gardener. The woman grabbed a baseball bat and, in Susan’s words, “whopped the tree trunk several times.” The next year the tree bloomed magnificently. Susan, now a firm believer, has “whopped” many a plant since. Her husband swears this is the reason his apple trees bear here.

The secondhand stories are pretty good though. Harris County Precinct 2 Master Gardener Angela Chandler’s mother’s ginkgo didn’t start growing until her neighbor from Japan instructed her to “strike it hard with a broom handle.”

Southern Gardening celeb Felder Rushing explains that beatings (whether by broom or hurricane) trigger the release of traumatin (a plant hormone similar to adrenalin in humans). This stimulates new growth and flower buds. This is why so many plants bloomed “out of season” after Ike.

Former Harris County Extension horticulturist Bill Adams adds that this kind of trauma also damages the phloem tissue which in turn reduces the amount of nutrient translocated back to the roots from the leaves. This concentrates more nutrition in the top of the plant, hence better and larger fruit.

“Switching okra” is a longtime Southern garden tradition. Felder says old rose growers “peg” their climbing roses, forcing them to the ground, secured with staked ties, to trigger “breaks” of flower clusters along bent stems. Want more crepe myrtle blooms? Pull branches down almost to the breaking point, then let them snap back into place.

If you draw the line at beating leaves, you can always torture the roots instead to trigger blooming. Using a sharpshooter, make a few cuts in a circle around the plant at the drip line (the point where rainwater would drip off). Felder says this works on crepes, magnolias, wisteria and dogwoods to name a few.

Other oldtimers, Bill Adams said, used to beat trunks with a chain or, using a girdling knife, would cut a partial ring around the trunk. Trees for Houston’s Barry Ward says “seasonal beatings” were common for fruit and nut trees during his childhood in California.

Mercer Arboretum’s Greg Harmison recalls how in his college fruit and nut class pointed out, he learned some orchards used tractors with swinging rubber hoses to beat early crops of fruits off peach trees, in particular. Subsequent fruits produced were much larger. But this only works on plants that bloom on new tip growth. By breaking the branch ends, more blooming tips are produced.

An even better college story came from Steve Moore of Calloways Gardens (Cornelius Nurseries). His professor said such violence “scared” the plant. It immediately began producing flowers to ensure seed to continue the species (should it be killed by its attacker).

But, said the professor, he got tired of the physical activity. He cranked up his chain saw next to the trees. The sound scared the trees so badly, they began producing more flowers and fruit. (Think he was trying to see which students were awake?)

Some of my gurus issued warnings. KTRH GardenLine’s Randy Lemmon says over the years he’s heard many success stories from beating wisteria with a bat. He always recommended wrapping the trunk first with a thick cloth towel, so the cambium layer isn’t broken. (If you want to ask Randy more about this, he’ll be at RCW Nursery, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sept. 19).

Paul Downs of Teas Nursery says only old established plants with large trunks “might” be able to handle beatings. But on tender bark? He agrees with Montgomery County Extension horticulturist Tom LeRoy that it isn’t worth the risk.

Still, Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Garden’s Linda Gay says a gardener told her the only way he gets his bougainvillea to bloom is to beat it every spring with a baseball bat. Harris County Extension horticulturalist Carol Brouwer says her neighbor’s grandmother (in Mexico) gets hers to bloom by taking it out of the pot and beating the roots as they lie on the ground.

Carol herself recommends letting bougainvillea soil dry completely before watering, using plenty of fertilizer and making sure the plant gets full sun. And Paul Downs warns he’s seen bougainvillea die from having their trunks shaken while moving them in pots.

Anyone out there have any personal (printable) experiences with beating plants?