Yesterday and actually most of last week offered great weather here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I was out in our display gardens yesterday vacuuming leaves out of planting beds and pruning some plants not taken care of last fall.
This is the time of year I like to cut back our Trumpet Vine and Clematis. We have a couple of gorgeous large Trumpet Vines whose main trunks are in the 1-2" dia. size. I usually cut them back to these main trunks and remove the vines from the bricks of our house. In one year these established vines will form buds along the stems and grow 15-20' in height in one year and offer us bright orange blooms on the house and sometimes up on our roof.
I also cut back all of our Clematis to a height of about 15" Some of our Clematis are supported on large wrought iron obelisks and some climb their way up 6' wide black vinyl clad chain link fencing. We will apply a slow release Osomocote fertilizer to all of the plants in our display gardens.
I also cleaned up the bottom of a massive Climbing Hydrangea that covers a section of fencing about 12' in width and 6' tall. I pruned away lower branches that had become rooted in the soil and raised the branches so the lowest branch was about 8" off of of the ground. This enhances the overall appearance of the plant and will help increase air movement in that vine as well as that section of the garden.
With the light rain falling today, I know spring is truly upon us.....I guess that means we will be out kayaking on Sunday afternoons shortly.
Next weekend in the garden we will prune the few remaining plants and adjust any garden lighting that may have settled in the spring soil thaw.
Friday, March 03, 2006
hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........Mother Nature knows how to toy with us in Northeast Pennsylvania. No winter during winter and yet....roars in like the proverbial lion in March. So what to do in our gardens when winter rears it's ugly head? Time for a checklist. Did you order the bareroot plants from the catalog you have been looking at all winter? Are your tools clean and ready to turn over that first spade of fresh soil in a few weeks? Have you kept in shape all winter, so the first weekend of garden work doesn't find you smelling like Mineral Ice as you walk through the store?
This time of year is when we try to finalize with clients the garden designs we have been working on all winter. In our display gardens, up until last nights little gift of snow, we have been pruning the ornamental trees and shrubs. Winter and early spring is the best time to prune almost any ornamental plant material, because you can see what you are doing. Remember, you can make several small cuts...but you can't glue branches back on :)
When plants are dormant, you can see where branches are crossing and causing bark deterioration and need to be removed or perhaps the branches are growing in the wrong direction and now is the time to redirect them. Later on in the spring or summer with leaves pushing or in full growth, you cannot see what you need to see.
And remember, pruning should always be done in a characteristic manner. This means when you get done pruning a plant, other than it may appear smaller or thinned out, the general appearance should be the same. This is the best horticultural practice for pruning the majority of plant material
OK....the exceptions to characteristic pruning. If you are determined to have a very formal garden and are pruning say boxwoods, hollies or yews then you will perform shearing of the plant material. This is very hard on the plant and you need to be sure to shear correctly and to provide the plant material with adequate nutrition like a slow release osmocote fertilizer.
Rejuvenation pruning is also a form of shearing to the extreme. Too often we let plants go and never prune them and wonder why they stop flowering or look very leggy. Plants that fall into this category include, Forsythia, Viburnums, red and yellow Dogwood, Potentilla, Lilac, Hydrangea, Honeysuckle and...........well, you get the idea. Rejuventaion pruning usually involves taking the plant down to within several inches or perhaps a foot of the ground......Yikes!
The theory behind this is........you have eliminated 90% of the top of the plant and still have 100% of the root system. If you have a healthy root system, your plant will come back gang busters and reward you with great flowers and vigorous growth. Your plant will once again look full, dark green and healthy.
One warning......this does not.....repeat does not work well or at all with evergreen material.....since they are evergreen they rely on their foliage to produce food for them to grow.
What should you use to prune. I recommend going to the big blue store.....yes Lowes and purchasing a pair of bypass (looks like scissors) pruner. They should run you about $7.00 a pair and will last the average homeowner a long time. Bypass pruners can handle branches up to about 1/2" in dia. Anything thicker than that requires loppers or a great hand saw designed specifically for pruning. I tell my clients to never trust a landscape contractor that doesn't wear a pruner on their belt.........
One last comment on this Cliffs Notes of pruning.......when pruning, especially with trees and larger shrubs, never leave a stub when cutting. This will rot and continue to rot back into the plant. On all plants there is what is referred to as a collar at the base of each branch where it connect to the main trunk or branch. It is visible and looks like a little mustache hanging over the branch. You should cut the branch to about 1/8 to 1/4" above this collar. This collar is the plants mechanism to compartmentalize the cut and start to heal the wound. In a couple of seasons. eve a 2" branch cut will be grown over with new bark.....
Well gotta go and make sure our warehouse is ready for spring, final maintence is completer on our equipment and the tool containers in our construction trailer labeld and ready for next week.........
This time of year is when we try to finalize with clients the garden designs we have been working on all winter. In our display gardens, up until last nights little gift of snow, we have been pruning the ornamental trees and shrubs. Winter and early spring is the best time to prune almost any ornamental plant material, because you can see what you are doing. Remember, you can make several small cuts...but you can't glue branches back on :)
When plants are dormant, you can see where branches are crossing and causing bark deterioration and need to be removed or perhaps the branches are growing in the wrong direction and now is the time to redirect them. Later on in the spring or summer with leaves pushing or in full growth, you cannot see what you need to see.
And remember, pruning should always be done in a characteristic manner. This means when you get done pruning a plant, other than it may appear smaller or thinned out, the general appearance should be the same. This is the best horticultural practice for pruning the majority of plant material
OK....the exceptions to characteristic pruning. If you are determined to have a very formal garden and are pruning say boxwoods, hollies or yews then you will perform shearing of the plant material. This is very hard on the plant and you need to be sure to shear correctly and to provide the plant material with adequate nutrition like a slow release osmocote fertilizer.
Rejuvenation pruning is also a form of shearing to the extreme. Too often we let plants go and never prune them and wonder why they stop flowering or look very leggy. Plants that fall into this category include, Forsythia, Viburnums, red and yellow Dogwood, Potentilla, Lilac, Hydrangea, Honeysuckle and...........well, you get the idea. Rejuventaion pruning usually involves taking the plant down to within several inches or perhaps a foot of the ground......Yikes!
The theory behind this is........you have eliminated 90% of the top of the plant and still have 100% of the root system. If you have a healthy root system, your plant will come back gang busters and reward you with great flowers and vigorous growth. Your plant will once again look full, dark green and healthy.
One warning......this does not.....repeat does not work well or at all with evergreen material.....since they are evergreen they rely on their foliage to produce food for them to grow.
What should you use to prune. I recommend going to the big blue store.....yes Lowes and purchasing a pair of bypass (looks like scissors) pruner. They should run you about $7.00 a pair and will last the average homeowner a long time. Bypass pruners can handle branches up to about 1/2" in dia. Anything thicker than that requires loppers or a great hand saw designed specifically for pruning. I tell my clients to never trust a landscape contractor that doesn't wear a pruner on their belt.........
One last comment on this Cliffs Notes of pruning.......when pruning, especially with trees and larger shrubs, never leave a stub when cutting. This will rot and continue to rot back into the plant. On all plants there is what is referred to as a collar at the base of each branch where it connect to the main trunk or branch. It is visible and looks like a little mustache hanging over the branch. You should cut the branch to about 1/8 to 1/4" above this collar. This collar is the plants mechanism to compartmentalize the cut and start to heal the wound. In a couple of seasons. eve a 2" branch cut will be grown over with new bark.....
Well gotta go and make sure our warehouse is ready for spring, final maintence is completer on our equipment and the tool containers in our construction trailer labeld and ready for next week.........
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