When spring's sprung early, we scramble to prune
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What's Up Issue 176 covered these stories. Follow the
links to read about:
What's Coming Up This Week
Buds make a
break for it. Behead 'em anyway!
Spring's early, pruning falls
behind but we go ahead with cutting butterfly bush, redtwig
dogwood, dwarf spireas, roses and all the others we want to remain
small and/or full of brand new wood.
Scrap those deer-scraped woodies. Admit the loss
and move on when deer rub all the bark from a tree's trunk or
shrub's cane. But take more precautions as you move on!
It's easy to Sponsor go to our Sponsor page
This week in our gardens:
Reduce a
spruce. Keep a Colorado spruce small, cut a
dwarf blue spruce down to size, and clip some
shaggy Japanese maples, too.
Make more of bulbs now when you know just what you have
and where you need more of them. Dig, divide
and redistribute spring bulbs.
Stay ahead of trouble. Whatever ate your plants last year will
be back this year. Predict a pest to nip its action in the bud. We
make an example of tent caterpillar (jump on 'em now as
Magnolia blooms!) and update you on spruce gall
adelgid (pests that have probably beaten your tree care company
to the buds).
Cut out
brown: Less is more. Lenten rose is spectacular in bloom. Cut
away last year's leaves so they can't spoil this spring's show.
Summary chart continues to grow. We've added this
week's to-do list, so we're two weeks into our 52-week
quick reference of what to do when. Take a look! Tell us how we're
doing!
Green Thumbs Up, Green Thumbs Down:
Team Forum helps us stay fit and safe. We're sharing
smart moves, good tools, common sense tips plus uncommonly sharp
insights. You can jump into the discussion.
Lawn disasters: Nutsedge (Nut sedge) and futile grub control.
Here's the straight scoop on one of the toughest weeds, with photos
and a practical approach. As for grubs: In spring they're nearly
grown, fat and hard to beat. Check now to be sure they really are a
significant problem, then pick your battlein August.
Tip Cuttings: Links, summaries and invitations into this
community's hottest topics
Keep a blue poppy on ice? A pro in the know says we
can't grow it. So, laugh about it.
Cherry weeps while reaching for the sky. Romantic bloom, a cherry's shocking size... and suggestions
for relandscaping a tiny courtyard.
Our Mentors, always with us
When you worry about how much you've cut off of a tree or shrub,
remember this mentor's words about three generations of pruners,
not done until they're scared!
The 45mph Garden
Top heavy hedges, light footed crane!
At 45mph, dense twiggy tops beg pruning, and we
show how. Meanwhile birds on stilts beget smiles.
Aiming for Answers: Hit or Miss:
We score a hit when tree peony must move in summer, sulks into the
fall but springs up now granting forgiveness.
Word's in that we hit the mark encouraging evergreen additions to bridge
the seasons. We take this opportunity to showcase two of the
best.
In a three-for-three week, we hear that our wisteria-pruning advice bore fruit... or,
flowers, anyway. Then, an unexpected twist took us into explaining
lackluster flower color, and Sponsors helped us bring that archived
pruning advice onto the site.
Big Mistake, Big Lesson
Too late to curtail a little bulb. It's here, it's there, it's
everywhere: Squill!
Scrabbling
Do you have pinnate knowledge that the carpel's windthrown?
Words worth playing on the game board, and knowing as you
garden.
Expert Afield
Seeing Irish
gardens through Janet's eyes.
Also:
Who are Janet
& Steven,
Where we're appearing, and how to
invite us to talk in your garden or town
Our books, photos
and other good stuff