Professor,
I grow on an upstairs balcony that gets a ton of sunlight and the plants absolutely love it. The problem is that I don’t want them to grow above the wall where the whole world can see them. What would be the best way to prune or train them so that I can keep my garden secret?
Sneaky in Seattle
Dear Sneaky,
I had the same problem living in an apartment in Dallas. I solved it by training the main stem to grow horizontally as close to the floor as possible and allowed the branches to grow up like a row of smaller plants. This simple method worked really well and could be applied anytime one needs to grow low and unnoticed. All it took to train the plant was some bricks, sturdy twine, and some cloth strips. ) I tied the cloth strips in loose loops around the main branch leaving plenty of room for new growth. The large surface area of the strips didn’t cut into the branches, like bare twine would have. The bricks made excellent anchors that I could move if needed. This approach was a lot neater and easier to maintain than an unwieldy bush full of twisted branches and tie downs.
Hope this helps things stay discreet and safe,
Professor Lee