Tag: Pruning

by Ken Lain, the mountain gardener Young, immature plants rarely need pruning except to deadhead faded flowers or remove dead and broken branches. Once a lilac reaches a mature height, it appreciates rejuvenation pruning. Young bushes with branched under three…

by Ken Lain, the mountain gardener What month do you cut hydrangeas back? When and how do you prune hydrangeas? What happens if you don’t cut back hydrangeas? Should you cut old blooms off hydrangeas? Hydrangeas make beautiful focal points…

by Ken Lain, the mountain gardener . . With questions about pruning flooding into the garden center, there’s no doubt that pruning is in full swing. Some homeowners new to the area are overwhelmed with where to start on a…

By Ken Lain, the mountain gardener We are almost finished pruning at the Lain casa.  Perennials have been cut back to the ground, fruit trees nipped and shaped, and the summer shrubs have been cut back for proper control.  Mountain…

By Ken Lain, the mountain gardener Our family got together last week to celebrate the moms in our lives.  Rain altered the usual patio party so the women gathered in the kitchen, and the men rallied around the smell of…

By Ken Lain, The Mountain Gardener There are a couple of benefits to planting larger-growing conifers before April.  The first is that, knowing garden centers stock up early for the spring planting season, informed gardeners buy early.  This guarantees cream-of-the-crop…

Yes, as a general rule of thumb, we’ll stop feeding roses as well as deadheading once we get into November. We want the roses to finish their blooming, stop growing, and begin to shut down for the winter. Leaving the…

Plums are in bloom, forsythia are covered in yellow flowers, and my fragrant rosemary is in glorious flower. Spring is so early this year that we decided to ship the first rose crop into the nursery, a full two weeks…

As usual, as we welcome in another new year we kick off another pruning season. Properly pruned trees and shrubs are critically important to the good health of any landscape. Now’s the time to prune back summer blooming shrubs like…

Not all plants need pruning in the yard, but timing is critical for those that do. Learn these mountain timely techniques sure to make the yard happy, bloom better and reduce disease this spring. Dress warm and bring garden shoes,…