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Outside My Window,
April 7th, 2010
Is it really here? No more freak storms like we usually get?
I keep my own temperature and weather
records each March/April to monitor the subtle changes that climate
change is creating for our gardening zone. Well ... this
year's shift from winter to spring takes the cake!
Last year on this date, we were still watching the melting off of the
last snow fall that left 5" on the ground on the 4th. The
ground was only partially thawed and very little was out of the ground
yet. Below are some photos from the first week of April 2009.
What a difference this year!
In my long gardening career I've never
seen a spring like the one we're experiencing this year. In
hindsight, many of us could have been out there seeding all the cool
season vegetable crops and some of the hardy annuals around the
beginning or March! Imagine!
I have two Witch Hazel's ('Diane' and
'Arnold's Promis' that have been in bloom since March 10th;
Primulas, snowdrops, scilla, have been in bloom for at least a couple of
weeks now, and the past weekend I drove by some Forsythia in full bloom!
Apple trees and tons of other shrubs are already starting to open
their buds. At this time they're usually just starting to swell
out of dormancy!
I have a gambler's heart (I think most gardener's do), and my gut tells
me that this is really it - that we can get those veggies and annuals in
the ground and open the season with just the same level of risk as there
would be in a normal early May. A full month's extra growing time!
That's huge!
The problem with being ready for some risk taking? The
garden centers aren't ready with any plants! The wholesale /
retail side of this industry has many thousands of dollars at stake if
they risk bringing plants in early. I can't image that they'll
take that risk which means that unless you're planting seed, you may
nevertheless need to wait for the regular planting time. What a
shame, huh!
This will be a year for experimentation and note taking for sure.
The downside is that many insect pests may have also had a very easy
time overwintering in large numbers successfully, and there's
perhaps even time for an additional egg laying cycle. The lack of
snow and the extra month of warm weather may cause an early drought
season ... There's always a cloud that comes with the silver
lining!
Cheers! Evelyn
Outside
My Window
April 6th 2009
Shrub and small tree pruning.
The main snow cover melted very early
this year and temperatures have been much warmer than usual for late
March / early April. Dormant buds on your woody plants are
stirring and will be ready to fly into growth as soon as this last
little taste of winter passes. This week we're getting that predictable return
to something more resembling winter than spring, but the forecasts
aren't calling for anything near as cold as we sometimes get at this
time.
Some shrubs break
bud earlier than others, but whatever their growth pattern is...
...Now is a great time for pruning!
Details of exactly how to prune which
shrub is something that comes with experience or a bit of research on the
particular plant and
how it grows. In a nutshell,
pruning is not a straightforward chopping off of the outer
branches. That "haircut" type of pruning only weakens the blooming power and ruins
branching pattern. Each shrub has it's own growth habit and bloom time that should be taken into consideration and there is always
your own, the plant's, or the garden site's, unique reason for pruning
in a particular way. Most shrub
problems begin and end with incorrect pruning. Aside
from removing dead or damaged branches, if in doubt about how and when
to prune correctly - don't! The shrub will likely be better off.
Take a bit of time to research correct
shrub pruning on the web - there's lots of great information there.
Or, if you can wait a bit, register for the next run of our in-depth
pruning workshop. Correct shrub pruning is one
of the gardening skills to master if you're ever to achieve a
beautiful garden - time spent learning how to do it correctly will be
well worth it.
The very popular
Weeping Mulberry requires
frequent and aggressive pruning to clean out all the dead branches
 within it's canopy. It's such a fast
growing, weak wooded, plant that it becomes an impenetrable mess if
left for too many years. The overlapping branches pinch, push and
trap one another,
often leading rot and disease.
In April weeping
Mulberry can be cut right back to just a
dozen or so of the healthiest branches with great success and can become gorgeous
sculptural plants again. Don't
be afraid to cut it right back to clean it out. It will respond
with an explosion of growth in the first season! They don't leaf out until May so if
you can't get around
to it in early
April, May is fine
too - just do it!
Contact
me anytime if your
shrubs and small
trees need a bit of
experienced TLC. Often just one hour
in March/April and a
follow-up hour later
in the season is all
that's necessary to
keep all your shrubs
healthy and looking
great.
Happy
spring! Evelyn
(end, April, 2009)
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