Hello again,
Meghan Shinn at Horticulture Magazine posted a quick and to the point article late last week called Planting a Hedge.
Ms. Shinn concisely gave some good pointers about how to easily and quickly give your yard a good screen of privacy with a hedge.
I recommend giving the article a quick read!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 1, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hints on Combining and Playing with Colors in the Garden
Hello again,
Last week KCB posted an article called The Color of Happiness. NOW how do we incorporate color into YOUR garden? Let KCB tell you more:
· Can become a riot of color
Warm Colors
KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family. KCB can also be found at the awesome Finishing Touches website
KCB for Skillin's Greenhouses April 2, 2012
Last week KCB posted an article called The Color of Happiness. NOW how do we incorporate color into YOUR garden? Let KCB tell you more:
"Basically, it breaks down to 2 combination choices:
· Harmonious (colors that are next to one another and share some value) or
· Contrasting (colors that don’t—at the opposite end of the color wheel)
Harmonious Combinations
· Monochromatic –One color; a very sophisticated subtle approach in making a statement.
 |
| A Monochromatic Garden |
o Choosing one hue and using it in its various shades, tints and tones.
o Can be a good beginners approach, as it avoids the chaos of too many colors
o Texture and repetition become more noticeable and important
o Green makes a good transition from one shade to the next
o Can also be employed as a progression, moving from one hue to the next on the wheel, the next...
· Analogous -2 or 3 colors that are adjacent to one another on the wheel
o Makes for an easier, less jarring transition for the eye
Contrasting Combinations
· Complementary
o Uses two colors opposite each other on the color wheel (red/green, orange/blue, yellow/purple.)
 |
| This Garden Can Be Considered Complementary |
o No common pigment means maximum contrast.
o Can be a bit jarring if there is too much contract used
o Try to favor one color and use the other as an accent or focal point
o Again, use texture and form for variety, rather than too much color
· Triad
o 3 equidistant colors on the color wheel
§ One color and the 2 colors on either side of its complement (Violet with Yellow-Orange and Yellow-Green) (Split Complements)
· Polychromatic
· Using every color
· Requires as much thought and experimentation as the other approaches
 |
Nice Textures in this Polychromatic Garden |
· Neighboring plants need to be considered throughout the garden
· Reds, yellows & Orangesà
o Catch your attention
o Energize often excite
o Make you feel like you are closer than you are
Cool Colors
· Blues, Greens & Purplesà
o Calming, soothing
o Tend to recede and make you feel like you are further away than you are
Tried & True color combinations:
· With red: Greens, purples,
· With Yellow: Purples, Blues, Oranges
· Oranges: Purples, Dark green
Dark colors vs. light or pale colors:
· Dark colors, especially with foliage, recede giving the feeling of depth to the garden bed.
o Will trick the eye into thing the plant or object is further back than it is.
· Light colors give the illusion of being closer than they are.
· Every Garden should wear some white"
KCB for Skillin's Greenhouses
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Spring Pruning is More Important Now Than Ever!
Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM.
Very recently Paul sent out as part of his weekly newsletter a great post called "Spring Pruning is More Important Now Than Ever!" Paul went over many great pruning points for this time of year. Here is what he has to say:
"Why do you have to prune your plants? You prune because pruning will make your plants healthy, they will look more beautiful and you can control the size and the shape of your plant. You also prune to increase the production of flowers and fruit and you prune to for the pleasure it gives you when the job is finished and you see what you accomplished. I want you to look at pruning as a wonderful way to improve the appearance of your property--NOT WORK. Think of pruning as a relaxing part of gardening that will allow you to become more creative. When you prune your plants, you are shaping the future appearance of that plant so it will better complement your home and garden.
The first thing I always tell gardeners is to say to your plants before you begin to prune: "I am doing this for your own good, I can do this and I am not intimidated with the job to be done!" Take your time when pruning, stop and look at what you're doing several times as you prune a plant ,because once you cut that branch, you cannot put it back—it's final. Walk around the plant or look at it from all sides before making a cut. Prune to make your plant look natural and try to stay away from power tools when possible. Power tools do the job quickly and if you're pruning a long hedge, it's the only way to do it--but individual plants should be pruned by hand. Your yard is not DISNEY WORLD; plants do not grow in nature in shapes that are round, square, columnar or conical. What you want to achieve is something in-between natural and Disney!
Start with the right tool for the job--and make sure the tool is sharp. Use your fingers when you remove faded flowers from your annuals or remove suckers from your tomatoes, and even to pinch back vines to help them produce new shoots. If you're going to use a knife or small saw, select one with a folding blade for safety when you carry it around the yard. Pruning shears are for branches under 1 inch in diameter, and they should always be closed when not in use--open pruners in your back pocket are a problem waiting to happen. They have to be sharp and clean or they will crush the stems, not cut them off cleanly. If they aren't sharp, you have damaged the plant every time to made a cut on a branch because a crushed stem cannot form callus and produce a healing scab to keep out disease and water.
Loppers are for branches over 1 inch in diameter; they are designed for medium duty pruning of single branches and for getting inside plants easily. Hand or bow saws are for larger branches and dry or dead wood; they make a nice clean cut--often doing a better job than loppers and causing less damage to the plant. Pole saws are for removal of branches in a tree out of your reach they keep you off a ladder and safe. The chain saw is for major removal of large branches or the entire tree; they work fast, so be careful---and always look around you before cutting for a way out if the branch does not go where you planned for it to fall.
For shaping a hedge, use hedge shears: manual or electric--it does not matter--just take your time, as many small shoots are cut at the same time. If you're using electric shears, always keep an eye on the extension cord, as many of us have cut the cord--and the fun quickly ends. If you're using manual hedge shears, choose some with teeth on the blade or a wavy edge, as this feature will hold the branches in place better. Also--when you use these giant scissors, select a pair with a good rubber shock absorber to help the handle spring-back more easily and get ready for the next cut. This good shock absorber will also make the pruning easier and your arms less tired.
One last thing about your good tools: they are expensive, and maintenance is the secret to a long life. Service will pay you back many times the cost of the tool; all you need is to clean them before and after using them. Sharpening the blade and tightening the screws that hold them together--along with applying oil to the moving parts and the blade--will pay big dividends when you need to use them again. One last thing, tree pitch from evergreens and rust on the blade are not acceptable; they cause you to work harder and put more stress on the tool. Always clean your tools and store them inside--out of the weather.
Now is the best time to prune your plants. Before the foliage begins to develop on the branches--and this next goes for evergreen plants too--prune while the plant is dormant! If you're pruning deciduous plants without foliage it will be easier, because you can see all of the branches and in what direction they are growing. Without foliage, the branches will be lighter and less likely to damage other branches as they fall from the plant--so that's easier for you to handle. It's also easier to see damaged or dead branches on the plant that must be removed to keep the plant healthy.
Right now, the energy or sap is still in the ground and just beginning to move up the plant. If you wait for the plant to leaf out before pruning, ll this energy will be used to make new growth on the plant--and when you cut it off, the new growth is wasted If you prune now, all the energy in the plant will be used to make new growth to cover the pruning you have just done, and no energy is wasted. Dormant buds will wake up to replace the buds you removed and your plants will become fuller with all this new growth. You may not believe this, but pruning will stimulate growth in most plants, as the dominant buds have been removed and the buds that remain will now compete to become the new leaders of the plant.
Here are a few things to consider when pruning your trees and shrubs this spring.
1) Prune all non-flowering plants NOW before the new growth develops--especially evergreens. When the new growth does form, it will hide any of the foliage you cut when pruning. This applies especially to broadleaf evergreens, because where you cut the leaf will turn brown--and half a leaf does not look good on a plant.
2) Flowering plants are best pruned as the flowers begin to fade, because after the flowering cycle the new foliage will form, and if you prune now you will remove the flower buds and miss the flowers.
3) Roses are always best pruned in the late spring to stimulate new growth and more flowers. Also, the plants will suffer less winter damage than when pruned in the fall. When the baseball season begins for real, it's time to cut back your roses--not during spring training.
4) When you prune, remove dead branches, broken branches, diseased branches, suckers, water sprouts and crisscrossing branches that are rubbing together first--before you do anything else to your plants.
5) When you prune evergreen plants that have begun to get too large, you can remove up to 75% of the green foliage (NOT 75% of the plant) and it will respond quickly and thicken up for you.
6) Prune your blue hydrangea to control the size of the plant but never cut it back to the ground. I would suggest that you wait until the buds begin to swell on the plant--and leave at least half of the buds on every stem, as many hydrangeas flower on buds made the previous year.
7) If you're pruning a conical evergreen like a spruce, do not touch the top of the plant or main leader, because your plant will begin to produce several new leaders and you will lose your conical shape.
8) Pruning paint is no longer recommended to cover cuts you made on the plant--they will heal much faster without it.
9) When you're done pruning, always fertilize your plant to help stimulate new growth and help form a scab to seal the cuts you made and keep out problems.
10) Go the book store and look over several good pruning books for information about the plant on your property. Pictures and information can help you do a better job and help encourage you to do this unique part of gardening! Learn to prune--it's rewarding!"
Thanks to Paul Parent!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 1, 2012
Very recently Paul sent out as part of his weekly newsletter a great post called "Spring Pruning is More Important Now Than Ever!" Paul went over many great pruning points for this time of year. Here is what he has to say:
"Why do you have to prune your plants? You prune because pruning will make your plants healthy, they will look more beautiful and you can control the size and the shape of your plant. You also prune to increase the production of flowers and fruit and you prune to for the pleasure it gives you when the job is finished and you see what you accomplished. I want you to look at pruning as a wonderful way to improve the appearance of your property--NOT WORK. Think of pruning as a relaxing part of gardening that will allow you to become more creative. When you prune your plants, you are shaping the future appearance of that plant so it will better complement your home and garden.
The first thing I always tell gardeners is to say to your plants before you begin to prune: "I am doing this for your own good, I can do this and I am not intimidated with the job to be done!" Take your time when pruning, stop and look at what you're doing several times as you prune a plant ,because once you cut that branch, you cannot put it back—it's final. Walk around the plant or look at it from all sides before making a cut. Prune to make your plant look natural and try to stay away from power tools when possible. Power tools do the job quickly and if you're pruning a long hedge, it's the only way to do it--but individual plants should be pruned by hand. Your yard is not DISNEY WORLD; plants do not grow in nature in shapes that are round, square, columnar or conical. What you want to achieve is something in-between natural and Disney!
Start with the right tool for the job--and make sure the tool is sharp. Use your fingers when you remove faded flowers from your annuals or remove suckers from your tomatoes, and even to pinch back vines to help them produce new shoots. If you're going to use a knife or small saw, select one with a folding blade for safety when you carry it around the yard. Pruning shears are for branches under 1 inch in diameter, and they should always be closed when not in use--open pruners in your back pocket are a problem waiting to happen. They have to be sharp and clean or they will crush the stems, not cut them off cleanly. If they aren't sharp, you have damaged the plant every time to made a cut on a branch because a crushed stem cannot form callus and produce a healing scab to keep out disease and water.
Loppers are for branches over 1 inch in diameter; they are designed for medium duty pruning of single branches and for getting inside plants easily. Hand or bow saws are for larger branches and dry or dead wood; they make a nice clean cut--often doing a better job than loppers and causing less damage to the plant. Pole saws are for removal of branches in a tree out of your reach they keep you off a ladder and safe. The chain saw is for major removal of large branches or the entire tree; they work fast, so be careful---and always look around you before cutting for a way out if the branch does not go where you planned for it to fall.
For shaping a hedge, use hedge shears: manual or electric--it does not matter--just take your time, as many small shoots are cut at the same time. If you're using electric shears, always keep an eye on the extension cord, as many of us have cut the cord--and the fun quickly ends. If you're using manual hedge shears, choose some with teeth on the blade or a wavy edge, as this feature will hold the branches in place better. Also--when you use these giant scissors, select a pair with a good rubber shock absorber to help the handle spring-back more easily and get ready for the next cut. This good shock absorber will also make the pruning easier and your arms less tired.
One last thing about your good tools: they are expensive, and maintenance is the secret to a long life. Service will pay you back many times the cost of the tool; all you need is to clean them before and after using them. Sharpening the blade and tightening the screws that hold them together--along with applying oil to the moving parts and the blade--will pay big dividends when you need to use them again. One last thing, tree pitch from evergreens and rust on the blade are not acceptable; they cause you to work harder and put more stress on the tool. Always clean your tools and store them inside--out of the weather.
Now is the best time to prune your plants. Before the foliage begins to develop on the branches--and this next goes for evergreen plants too--prune while the plant is dormant! If you're pruning deciduous plants without foliage it will be easier, because you can see all of the branches and in what direction they are growing. Without foliage, the branches will be lighter and less likely to damage other branches as they fall from the plant--so that's easier for you to handle. It's also easier to see damaged or dead branches on the plant that must be removed to keep the plant healthy.
Right now, the energy or sap is still in the ground and just beginning to move up the plant. If you wait for the plant to leaf out before pruning, ll this energy will be used to make new growth on the plant--and when you cut it off, the new growth is wasted If you prune now, all the energy in the plant will be used to make new growth to cover the pruning you have just done, and no energy is wasted. Dormant buds will wake up to replace the buds you removed and your plants will become fuller with all this new growth. You may not believe this, but pruning will stimulate growth in most plants, as the dominant buds have been removed and the buds that remain will now compete to become the new leaders of the plant.
Here are a few things to consider when pruning your trees and shrubs this spring.
1) Prune all non-flowering plants NOW before the new growth develops--especially evergreens. When the new growth does form, it will hide any of the foliage you cut when pruning. This applies especially to broadleaf evergreens, because where you cut the leaf will turn brown--and half a leaf does not look good on a plant.
2) Flowering plants are best pruned as the flowers begin to fade, because after the flowering cycle the new foliage will form, and if you prune now you will remove the flower buds and miss the flowers.
3) Roses are always best pruned in the late spring to stimulate new growth and more flowers. Also, the plants will suffer less winter damage than when pruned in the fall. When the baseball season begins for real, it's time to cut back your roses--not during spring training.
4) When you prune, remove dead branches, broken branches, diseased branches, suckers, water sprouts and crisscrossing branches that are rubbing together first--before you do anything else to your plants.
5) When you prune evergreen plants that have begun to get too large, you can remove up to 75% of the green foliage (NOT 75% of the plant) and it will respond quickly and thicken up for you.
6) Prune your blue hydrangea to control the size of the plant but never cut it back to the ground. I would suggest that you wait until the buds begin to swell on the plant--and leave at least half of the buds on every stem, as many hydrangeas flower on buds made the previous year.
7) If you're pruning a conical evergreen like a spruce, do not touch the top of the plant or main leader, because your plant will begin to produce several new leaders and you will lose your conical shape.
8) Pruning paint is no longer recommended to cover cuts you made on the plant--they will heal much faster without it.
9) When you're done pruning, always fertilize your plant to help stimulate new growth and help form a scab to seal the cuts you made and keep out problems.
10) Go the book store and look over several good pruning books for information about the plant on your property. Pictures and information can help you do a better job and help encourage you to do this unique part of gardening! Learn to prune--it's rewarding!"
Thanks to Paul Parent!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 1, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Color of Happiness
Color Me Happy
(Check back soon for KCB's next post: The Secret of Coloring)
KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family. KCB can also be found at the awesome Finishing Touches website
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Spring Has Arrived and Great Weather Along With It
Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM.
Very recently Paul sent out as part of his weekly newsletter a great post called "Spring Has Arrived and Great Weather Along With It." Paul went over some very timely yard and garden tips for just this early time of the season which can help all of us get our outdoor gardening off to a GREAT start!
Following are some excerpts from what Paul had to say:
"Spring is here, and that means it's time for you to get out of the house and back in the yard. The seed catalogs are everywhere, gardening magazines are now flooding the book stands, and the birds are returning to your yards--so let's get moving. Take advantage of the warmer than normal weather and let's clean up the yard, prepare the soil for planting and begin planting early spring flowers like pansies, violets and Johnny jump ups.
If the moss is like a carpet, rake it up with your steel grading rake and dispose of it now and then add grass seed in those areas later to fill in the holes. If moss is visible, you can also purchase a moss killer and burn it out quickly without hurting the existing grass--but you will still need to add lime to sweeten the soil to prevent regrowth later so you won't have to look at the moss during the summer.
Apply Fast Acting Lime too at the recommended rate for all your flower and vegetable gardens. Shrubs like lilacs, clematis, and pink hydrangea love lime, so be sure to give them a bit extra to promote good foliage growth and flowers later. If you have shrubs and flowering trees that are not flowering well, give them a bit of lime to help sweeten the soil and make the fertilizer you will apply work better around the plants. Even rhododendrons, azaleas and mountain laurel will improve their flower production with occasional applications of lime products.
Right now is the best and MOST effective time to control crabgrass in your lawn, especially if you had crabgrass in your lawn last year. Each plant you had last year is able to produce up to 5000 seeds--so if you had a problem last year, it could be much worse this year. If you're controlling crabgrass with a traditional or organic product this year, remember to get it down early and be sure to water it in to dissolve the product to create the protective barrier on top of the soil to prevent seed germination. This first step will also fertilize the grass and help fill in the holes left in the lawn by the dead crabgrass plants from last year. Thick lawns do not have crabgrass problems so if you did not have crabgrass last year, feed your lawn to prevent problems this year.
Newly planted shrubs and trees from last year should now be fertilized now with Bio-Tone to continue the root development process so the plant can be ready for a possible hot and dry summer. Remember what this winter has been like--the summer could be a hot and dry one, so prepare now just in case. Established plants should be fertilized with the proper fertilizer also for evergreens use Holly-Tone by Espoma. If you have deciduous or leafless plants, use Espoma Plant-tone now. Feeding at this time of the year stimulates the plant to grow while there is a good supply of moisture in the ground; remember, "April Showers bring May flowers." While the sap is moving up the tree, your fertilizer applied now can also move up the tree or shrub more easily for a uniform growth; it won't just sit at the bottom of the plant.
Very recently Paul sent out as part of his weekly newsletter a great post called "Spring Has Arrived and Great Weather Along With It." Paul went over some very timely yard and garden tips for just this early time of the season which can help all of us get our outdoor gardening off to a GREAT start!
Following are some excerpts from what Paul had to say:
"Spring is here, and that means it's time for you to get out of the house and back in the yard. The seed catalogs are everywhere, gardening magazines are now flooding the book stands, and the birds are returning to your yards--so let's get moving. Take advantage of the warmer than normal weather and let's clean up the yard, prepare the soil for planting and begin planting early spring flowers like pansies, violets and Johnny jump ups.
It's also time to work on the lawn and get rid of the moss growing there. If you're using the old fashioned powdered limestone, be sure to open up your spreader all the way to do the job properly. This will give you the proper rate of 50 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. of lawn for heavy moss...." At Skillin's we love the Fast Acting Lime by Encap. This calcium based lawn lends great minerals to your soil that will help your soil be better aerated over time. If the soil seems especially heavy and dense then come pick up some gypsum to put down on that part of the lawn. Also ask us to show you some all natural and safe lawn foods that when used consistently will bring natural aeration and a thicker grass to your lawn area!
If the moss is like a carpet, rake it up with your steel grading rake and dispose of it now and then add grass seed in those areas later to fill in the holes. If moss is visible, you can also purchase a moss killer and burn it out quickly without hurting the existing grass--but you will still need to add lime to sweeten the soil to prevent regrowth later so you won't have to look at the moss during the summer.
Apply Fast Acting Lime too at the recommended rate for all your flower and vegetable gardens. Shrubs like lilacs, clematis, and pink hydrangea love lime, so be sure to give them a bit extra to promote good foliage growth and flowers later. If you have shrubs and flowering trees that are not flowering well, give them a bit of lime to help sweeten the soil and make the fertilizer you will apply work better around the plants. Even rhododendrons, azaleas and mountain laurel will improve their flower production with occasional applications of lime products.
If you have blue hydrangea and blueberries, it is also time to add a soil conditioner called aluminum sulfate to make the soil more acidic. This is the opposite of what liming the soil does, as these plants prefer an acidic soil to grow in; this will increase the flowers on the blueberry for more berries and you'll have brighter flower colors on the hydrangea.
Newly planted shrubs and trees from last year should now be fertilized now with Bio-Tone to continue the root development process so the plant can be ready for a possible hot and dry summer. Remember what this winter has been like--the summer could be a hot and dry one, so prepare now just in case. Established plants should be fertilized with the proper fertilizer also for evergreens use Holly-Tone by Espoma. If you have deciduous or leafless plants, use Espoma Plant-tone now. Feeding at this time of the year stimulates the plant to grow while there is a good supply of moisture in the ground; remember, "April Showers bring May flowers." While the sap is moving up the tree, your fertilizer applied now can also move up the tree or shrub more easily for a uniform growth; it won't just sit at the bottom of the plant.
Clean up your perennial flower beds now, fertilize, lime and apply your bark mulch or compost before the plants begin to grow. It will save you time and prevent you from damaging newly sprouting shoots. When Spring Training finishes--and your favorite baseball team begins to play baseball for real--is the right time to prune back your roses; not before--especially in the northern part of the country--but you can feed and lime them now.
Your fruit trees, berry plants, rosebushes, perennial beds and evergreen shrubs should now be sprayed with All Season Oil and Copper Fungicide to kill overwintering insects and disease spores on your plants. Be sure to clean around the plants and remove all of last year's foliage on the ground, as it does contain these problems; spray the structure the plants are growing on too. Entomologists are predicting a real bad year for insects this year due to the mild winter. The lack of real prolonged cold weather along with no frost in the ground could give us many problems with insects and disease in the coming weeks, so stay on top of problems as they develop in your garden.
Now is also the time to prune your deciduous non flowering plants like privet hedges, burning bush, barberry and privacy hedges--just to name a few. Also your non flowering evergreens like boxwood, holly, ilex, yews and junipers again just to name a few. While you're pruning your Canadian hemlock, check them over real well for small white growths that look like cotton on the underside of the needle, near the tips of the branches. If you see this, treat your plant "NOW" with systemic tree and shrub insecticide so the upward movement of the sap will take the product to the top of the tree and protect the entire plant for the entire year. If you have ash trees or large leaf trees on your property, look at the trunk of the tree for possible holes in them about the size of a pencil. Those could be a real problem that is easily controlled now--with the same product. Longhorn beetles or ash borers are a real problem all over New England now--and the warm winter did not help."
Thanks to Paul Parent!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
March 26, 2012
Envisioning Your Garden
Hello again,
I was traveling on Monday but doing some reading at the same time. I came across this great post at the Martha Stewart website. I am not a regular visitor to her website--this post was linked to I believe my Linked in account BUT the author here, Helen Yoest writes well about how to envision your space.
She writes practically about how to sketch what you have and with a little bit of feel for some scale in your sketches incorporate areas for your children, for sitting, etc. We LOVE to work with sketches here at Skillin's. So share your thoughts with us; we can very practically help to turn your dreams into achievable reality!
HERE is the post by Helen Yoest.
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
March 27, 2012
I was traveling on Monday but doing some reading at the same time. I came across this great post at the Martha Stewart website. I am not a regular visitor to her website--this post was linked to I believe my Linked in account BUT the author here, Helen Yoest writes well about how to envision your space.
She writes practically about how to sketch what you have and with a little bit of feel for some scale in your sketches incorporate areas for your children, for sitting, etc. We LOVE to work with sketches here at Skillin's. So share your thoughts with us; we can very practically help to turn your dreams into achievable reality!
HERE is the post by Helen Yoest.
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
March 27, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Quick Pruning Hints-Roses and Burning Bush!
KCB is back with some quick pruning tips:
When to prune roses? Now. An old-fashioned hint for our area; prune when the forsythia are just starting to bud.
KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family. KCB can also be found at the awesome Finishing Touches website
KCB for Skillin's Greenhouses March 25, 2012
When to prune roses? Now. An old-fashioned hint for our area; prune when the forsythia are just starting to bud.
· Cut back any dead or broken canes to the ground. See the pictures for an example.
When to prune Butterfly Bush? In about a week or 2 when the forsythia are in full bloom.
· Cut back any dead or damaged branches to the ground. Other branches cut back to 1/3 of growth. Often I will leave the center branches slightly taller to emphasis the arching shape.
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