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-- Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it. When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed.
~Lewis Gannit
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-- -- Although dormant season pruning is recommended for most plants, there are cases in which pruning should be done during the growing season. If spring-flowering trees or shrubs are topped or trimmed in winter, the flower buds will be removed and the plants won’t blossom that spring. Early spring bloomers, which produce their flowers on previous season’s growth should be trimmed immediately after flowering. These shrubs include lilacs, viburnum, forsythia, dogwood, bridal wreath spiraea, flowering plum and other spring bloomers.
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-- During the late winter & early spring:
-Remove all diseased, broken & weak branches
-Remove all crossing and rubbing branches and those that lay on the ground
-Remove some of the older, heavier growth (one-third of the older branches)
-Reduce length of other branches to varying lengths
-Remove some of the new or sucker growth especially from extremely vigorous species and those that tend to develop numerous suckers.
-Visualize what the plant will look like without the branch or cane before each cut
-Prune with an eye to the overall health and vigor of the plant. Also consider the plant’s age and growing conditions especially where weather conditions are extreme
-Prune carefully, avoid injury to growth and leave clean cuts without torn edges
-When pruning for disease control, such as fire blight or cankers, disinfect tools after each cut
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-- Backyard Bird Habitat Garden Principles
1. Birds, like people, need food, shelter, water, and a safe place to raise their young.
2. Backyard habitat gardens can fill these needs through a combination of landscaping, planting, water and supplements (Feeders, birdhouses, birdbaths)
3. Native plants provide support for native, local birds and migrant birds.
4. Landscape and plant diversity encourage more kinds of birds.
5. Design your garden using your microclimates (hot spots, cool spots, wet spots, etc) to increase plant diversity.
6. Cluster and multi-level—connect plantings, cluster trees, shrubs and plants horizontally and vertically. Birds use different levels and like to have cover and shelter arranged so they can go from one plant or shrub or tree to another.
7. Good habitat gardens look a little messy—deadwood, dead leaves, seed stalks left on plants offer more food than a manicured, tidy space. Birds and bats love bugs.
8. Put some feeders and water sources close to where you spend the most time so you’ll get to know your visitors!
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-- For more robust blooms next year, feed them now while they're in bloom. And don't clip the green foliage until it turns yellow - those green leaves feed the bulbs for next year.
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