BLOG SPRING PRUNING TIPS

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to the Fresh Air appearance this a.m. ?We will be sending out the newsletter tomorrow afternoon. If you don’t get one, let me know asap.

DEREK?S WORDS OF WISDOM
Derek Welsh is my favourite arborist (Authentic Tree Care) and he says if you?ve got maples and birches which ?bleed,? ?be careful and just remove dead stuff which won’t harm them at all. Hold on takingout big limbs unless they are dangerous until later in the season.

* Fruit trees should be pruned as soon as possible

* ?Spirea and forsythia can be cut right back to the ground right now, and it will be back before you know it and will flower next year. This is called coppicing. If you are mad keen to have them bloom this year, wait until they’ve finished before you do it. ?Personally I’d get going now and let them start their new growth fresh as quickly as?possible.?

* There?s a lot of damage to hemlocks, white pines under huge stress when temps went from +10 to -20 in a matter of hours this winter. It sucks the moisture right out of the evergreens. Make sure they have enough spring rains. Clean them up with a pair of leather gloves just brushing off the dead and yellowed paarts.

* Never plant evergreens in the autumn for this reason. If they haven?t got a huge root system to rely on all winter, then they are going to turn yellow and brown.

* Wait for a few weeks for all those silver plants (Russian sage or Perovski; lavender and Caryoptris). When you see new growth starting in the centre of the plant then it?s safe to work on them and prune for shape.

* Do your wisteria now but again you can leave it for a couple of weeks.

As I mentioned on CBC, the news letter is ready and about to be sent out. ?And here’s my own pathetic garden right now. ?We’ve been battling more floods with all ?that intense rain. How does one survive with help of Robert and Stephen? ?Soon, soon I’ll be able to get through the mud and on to the compost. But look what’s coming up: ?little bulbs and tons of hellebores in spite of the cold and the wet. That’s Robert’s sump pump in the back. ?Now to get a plumber.