Pruning

How to Summer-Prune a Floppy Miscanthus Grass (Video Tutorial)

September 26, 2009 9 comments
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I’m a big fan of ornamental grasses because they add so much motion and life to a garden. If you use multiples, they’re an easy way of bringing a sense of continuity to a busy or scattered-feeling garden, because the effect of their foliage is so soothing. Miscanthus is a favorite because it grows so [...]

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How to Prune Hydrangeas (Video Tutorial)

September 12, 2009 8 comments
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I love Bigleaf Hydrangeas (H. macrophylla), the traditional garden Hydrangea with either big mophead flowers or the subtler lacecap flowerheads. Most gardens have a Hydrangea or two tucked in, and why not? As long as they have composty soil and get watered regularly, they make a fantastic show of blooms with very little effort on [...]

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How to Deadhead Mexican Bush Sage or Salvia leucantha (Video Tutorial)

September 1, 2009 4 comments
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I shot this video in December, when this Salvia was at the end of its blooming season and just starting to think about going dormant, but the advice for how to deadhead and prune it is still great for summer. Right now, many of the Mexican Bush Sages in the gardens that I maintain are [...]

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February Garden Maintenance for the Pacific Northwest

February 4, 2009 9 comments

February feels like the eye of the storm for us gardeners – there’s just enough time between the winter pruning rush and the flurry of spring to take a deep breath, and begin thinking back on what worked especially well last year and what projects we might like to tackle this year. Most of my [...]

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In Other Words: Winter Pruning Guides from Around the Web

January 27, 2009 11 comments

I’ve found some wonderful tutorials on pruning in the last few weeks, with easy-to-understand photos and step by step advice. Pruning can be intimidating for beginners, but these guides break it down and have an encouraging tone – they don’t make things more complicated than they have to be. Here are the articles I’ve liked [...]

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Stupid Thorns, Tasty Berries: How To Prune Raspberries (It’s Easy)

January 23, 2009 26 comments
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So every time I open up my pruning book to the raspberry page, I get deep unhappy furrows in my brow. Raspberries are a simple plant. Why do they have to make it so complicated? There’s the summer-fruiting kind (with a short fruiting season), which fruit best on one year old wood. Ideally with these, [...]

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Braving the Thorns Part 2: Pruning Your Dormant Rose

January 19, 2009 13 comments

Rose pruning is such a satisfying task – you go from a tangled icky mass with thorns everywhere to a lovely clean set of sturdy stems – yet too many people are intimidated by their roses. There’s no need to be shy! The worst thing you can do is not tackle them at all, since [...]

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Ornamental Grasses: How to Prune Miscanthus, Stipa, and More

January 14, 2009 22 comments
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Now’s the time for us mild-winter gardeners to prune back many of our ornamental grasses. But how do you know which to prune back all the way, which to deadhead, and which to leave be? Well, if your grass is an evergreen and is still looking great, then leave it be unless you want to [...]

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January Garden Maintenance: The To-Do List

January 11, 2009 8 comments

If December is all about putting things to bed – raking, weeding, mulching,  and cutting back perennials – January’s for dreaming big dreams of the coming year’s harvest and blooms – pruning, spraying, and planting for a productive year. You’d think while pruning a completely bare tree you’d feel wintry and rather desolate – but [...]

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The Military Flat-Top: How To Prune Your Astilbe (Video Tutorial)

January 1, 2009 4 comments

Feathery Astilbe plumes in spring are one of my favorite seasonal shows, and even though I’m a big proponent of year-round interest, I’ll forgive a species that goes dormant if it does so with either: A. Loads of fanfare and splashy color, or up-to-the-last-second blooms. B. Such profoundly fast dieback that one day you are [...]

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