Pruning trees, shrubs, bonsai

Sweet Bay Magnolia suckers growing from the base must be cut often

First, I will apologize for the lack of proper accompanying images. For some reason my camera just does not take certain pics well. Maybe it is the loose nut behind the viewfinder. I wanted to take a few moments to explain pruning techniques. Over the years, I have read about, observed often and watched many how-to's on pruning bonsai.

Purchase sharp, high-quality by-pass pruners. If you spend $29+ you should be okay. Better quality pruners will give you years of service, if properly maintained. Here's how:

• Make sure they are able to be taken apart for sharpening
• Don't leave them outside in the rain
• Keep them clean and oiled
• Sharpen them often

When looking at a specimen to prune, take time to look over the plant as a whole.  Is the shape doing what you want or is pleasing? Here is where you start making a mental list of branches to get rid of or cut back. Go ahead and cut out any dead wood, from large branches, to tiny twigs. Next, Look for any crossing branches. When you come across this situation, you must decide which branch is the stronger of the two. Make sure the one you are leaving behind is not causing other problems with other branches.

Water Sprouts popping up near where a branch was cut on a corkscrew willow

Are there any suckers or water sprouts? New straight branches growing from the base of the tree, root area or growing straight up through the tree from larger branches zap precious energy from the main part of the tree. Removing them will restore vigor to the growth you want to keep. Some plants have few, some, none at all while others produce dozens throughout a growing season. Barberry, Crabapple, Butterfly bushes, Crepe myrtle, plum, and cherry trees to name a few, all produce copious amounts of these each year. Only keep one or two if you need more branches from that area, otherwise cut them often. Keep the energy flowing to the main part of the tree.

Once you have some of the maintenance pruning out of the way, you can start to clean up the plant. From bushes to trees, small secondary or tertiary branches that grow down or at odd angles should be cut. This lends itself to making a sculptural feel of the plant. By making choice cuts, you also let light and air into the inner branches, which will strengthen them and reduce dieback. Also, on trees, every once in a while, you will get small branches or leaf sets popping up lower down on the trunk from the main branch level. You can keep one or two if you are trying to fill in a void, otherwise, pinch them off or cut them with your pruners. They zap energy.

Cutting off small branches that are downward growing, is a technique from Bonsai and Niwaki, the art of Japanese garden pruning. I recently transplanted a Hollywood Juniper to a large clay pot. It has been growing in the ground for 7 years or so. I have pruned it slightly over the years, and the neighbors dog had pruned the bottom with its constant peeing on it. Luckily it survived. Below are before and after pics of what I am talking about with pruning downward growing branches. It cleans up any plant.

Before

lower growth cut or pinched off

If anyone has any questions or requests, please contact me.

Beautiful world we live in

Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.". And I concur. So I left work on Wednesday, picked up my lovely wife and drove off through the countryside to Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, VA, were we had a tasting, grabbed a bottle of our favorite wine and sat under the trees overlooking the vineyards with a picnic lunch. What a day.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "There is no other place, Virginia need envy". Yes, there are millions of lovely places out there. I am partial to Virginia, having been born here and lived most of my life here. Within a two hour drive, we have mountains older than the Alps or Himalayas, major cities, and beaches. We used to go for a drive often, but since 2007, gas prices and the economy have slowed that down a bit.

The drive was super nice, as we had wonderful weather, little traffic and time to relax. Sitting next to the vineyard, birds singing, real Honeybees busily hopping clover to clover, it was incredible. Virginia is now the 5th largest producer of wine in the country and growing. The wine is getting better and there are so many wineries, you won't visit them all any time soon. We passed by 2 others that we will get to next time. Get out there and enjoy nature, and enjoy each other. 

very early in the season, by mid August, these will be red an beautiful!

Sunday morning images from the garden

Just a quick glance at some images from the garden from the last couple of days. Enjoy your Sunday morning coffee and relax.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea

Crocosmia

lemon yellow Day Lilies

Calla lilies just blooming

dainty white Gaura

Big day lilies

Regional differences to ponder

I met a nice family today, transplants from the "other" coast, Northeast, Washington to be exact. We got to talking about how to get rid of critters, deer resistant plants and things in general that are specific to this region versus where they are coming from. Having purchased a new house and with two young daughters their concerns were warranted. So as we talked, I noticed how different things were. Things that we here in Virginia might take for granted that for someone else, might send up warning signals.
Virginia is known for some quirks, but there is hardly anything to fear outright. Or is there?

Thyme

ticks Those dreaded little critters of which I have some experience. I wrote last year about the one that got me and gave me Lyme disease and literally kicked my butt. While there is not a whole lot you can do to completely rid your self or yard of them, there are steps to keeping them at arms length. If you have wooded areas around your lawn, keep the debris piled a few feet away, and keep weeds or other undergrowth in check. If you are outside during the summer months, especially children and pets, check each night that you don't have any uninvited guests. Getting any tick off of you, even if it is dug in, within 24 hours, will probably keep the disease from entering your body. It's not a perfect science, but it takes that long for the  bacteria to enter your body. So each night, check thoroughly, as the ticks are sometimes small and might look like a small mole or freckle.

black widow spiders  I have seen more of these creatures over the last few years. They love to hide under rocks or other objects that aren't moved frequently. They make a nest from silk webbing that is not in the least tidy compared to other spiders. I keep an eye out in places I have seen them before and use caution when moving anything. So far so good.

other insects  Some are just not common or not found at all in other regions. This family noted that they have seen what we know as earwigs, but didn't know what they were. They are harmless but look menacing, with large "pincer-like" appendages on their derriere, liking moist organic environments, and might seek shelter through a small gap in the doors or windows when the rains get heavy enough. Spraying around your homes door and window openings will deter them from entering. Something you might need to do a couple of times a year.

deer  I have written on this before, May 24th to be exact. There are ways to deter them. Buying plants that they don't like is easy, they are tagged as such by most big nurseries, but can get a bit boring. I want plants that I like but they think is a buffet. Planting chives throughout your garden area, Rosemary, Thyme and lemon scented plants like lemon balm and lemon grass, keeps them away for the most part. Two or three lines of fishing line strung along the borders of your property, especially from the woodland side of the property will keep them away for awhile. If they try to enter your property at night and touch it against their body, they feel uncomfortable and will feel the resistance. It is also a cheap alternative to actual fencing and much cheaper. It is almost invisible also.

My new west coast friends told me that they have driven to their new house, of which they have not as of yet taken possession, and there are deer just lounging in their yard as they drive up. I asked them if they had a dog, as they were also worried about pesticides that might harm pets, and they said they had a yellow lab. I told them that was great! After a few scares from a barking dog, the deer might not return as often. They looked a little sheepish and they told me it might be a problem because he is pretty lethargic. It reminded me of Funny Farm with Chevy Chase, and "Yellow Dog". Funny movie.

poisonous plants  I thought everywhere had poison ivy. They don't have it in Washington state apparently, so word of caution to those moving to, or visiting Virginia. Use caution. This stuff is nasty. "Leaves of three, leave it be", is an adage that I was taught as a child. I've had some in my childhood, and every once in a blue moon I will get a couple of small blisters on the insides of my fingers. Best rule is to identify where they are during the growing season, and stay away. In the late fall, you can cut the main stems, especially if they are climbing trees, and it will kill them. They make a Poison Ivy killer, it is a heavier duty formula of RoundUp, made by that killer company we all now hate. So I won't buy any. I prefer using the identify then cut method.

These methods are by no means an end all be all for these problems. I have just found it hard to use the amount of chemicals we are so used to being told we need by all the advertisers out there. I use chemicals very sparingly, and of those I use, I make sure it is not made by companies like Monsanto or Bayer. Chemicals are not selective. They will not just kill ticks and mosquitoes. It kills all insect life in your yard, and the bees and worms and turtles and frogs of the world have enough problems without me signing their death warrant.

Welcome to Virginia. It's a wild state out there. Thankfully.

Future garden plants

It was an extremely rainy day yesterday and my wife and I headed over to the nursery after it had let up. I took some pics of some future plants and flowers that we like. I hope you do too!

Tanyosho Pine

Echinacea "Milkshake"

Echinacea

Echinacea

Echinacea

Echinacea

Day Lily

Day Lily

Day Lily

Day Lily

Blackberries and Lilies

Day Lilies in bloom

We have several types of Lilies in the yard. Some are Hemerocallis, or Day Lilies, which means Day - Beautiful in Greek. There are so many types, that it is a great, inexpensive way to get a large collection going. There are color choices and styles for everyone. Some are frilly, some are large, some have double blooms. As they start budding out, they will give you weeks of pleasure, as not all bloom at the same time. But you do have to get out and enjoy them. Each bloom lasts about a full day, then is replaced by another blossom, hence the name.

bi-color Day Lily

 We also have some Asiatic Lilies, or Lilium, of which there are also hundreds if not thousands of species. These also don't disappoint, with so many colors and shapes to be had. In our area, these act as perennials, just as the Day Lilies do. You probably have seen these for sale on holidays in grocery stores. Next time, when they go on sale after the holiday, grab some and plant them in your yard. They will come back year after year, and each year they produce more and more blossoms!

intense red

purple tips

creamy white

bright yellow

thinner petal Asiatic Lilies

 We have blackberries all over this area. They line the fence across the road and form a hedgerow, there are some in back near the woodline, and we built a raised bed, 4x4, several years ago to keep some of them in check. Each year has been better and better. We also planted a golden raspberry plant, along with the blackberries. For the last 5 years or so we have only gotten a couple, as in two, berries each year. I'm not sure why. But this year we had a bumper crop of around 10! As in ten berries. The blackberry plant more than makes up for it though. And I have been known to wander over to the side of the road opposite our house, and clean up a bush or two upon arriving home in the evening. YUM!

Blackberries just coming into ripeness!

Golden raspberries

Spring rains

Hosta blossoms

I love spring rains. There is nothing more important for plants in your yard than natural rain. Everything seems to react quickly to it. More blossoms, new growth, greener leaves. During the summer months, when we have to water, we are just keeping them alive with basic sustenance. Natural rain on the other hand, delivers nutrients, minerals with the H2O. Something only found in nature.

We had quite a bit of rain here last week and early this week as tropical storm Andrea moved up the coast. Luckily for us there was no damaging winds or anything of that nature, just lots and lots of rain. Within 2 days after, the Gardenia bushes burst onto the scene, allowing us to pull them by the dozen, bring them inside to a bowl of fresh water, and enjoy their wonderful fragrance.

Gardenia in full bloom

large fragrant Gardenia blossom

Our Jasmine have been in bloom for a couple of weeks now, showering us with fantastic fragrance that intensifies in the evening and early morning. We have found that it takes a couple of years for it to become established, taking hits during the winter for the first years, but get hardier as time goes on. We have 3 large areas in the yard with the Jasmine.

Jasmine in full bloom

One of my favorites, the Day-lily, is just starting to bloom. We have several all around the yard and they do not disappoint. I love the fact that there are so many choices and they are extremely hardy, with almost no maintenance after planting other than the occasional separating.

Asiatic Lilies

the Day lilies on the right will open in a day or so

super bright yellow Asiatic Lily!