It’s March again, so it must be time for my annual haircut—er, for the shrubs and trees in The Garden, that is.  Woody plants are drawing near to the end of winter dormancy, and that means we’ve entered the year’s first pruning season.

But is pruning easier said than done?  Based on copious scene-of-the-crime evidence suffered by the hacked shrubs and whacked trees I see in our forest city, the answer must be “apparently so!”  True, true, but still a snob’s response.   Any of us can effectively prune well.  If we take the time to learn a few horticultural concepts, basic pruning becomes a pleasant exercise and beneficial service to our shrubs and trees, and easy enough to make a good job of it on the first try.

Certainly pruning has some subtleties, and every plant wants a unique, custom haircut. So, I simplify.  Every time I prune, I consider my four prescriptions: seasonal timing; specific plant habit; desired product; proper cutting technique.  These four prescriptions ensure that I think about all aspects of the job, and give the plant in front of me “its” cut.  Let’s go through the four prescriptions one-by-one.

One: seasonal timing.   A deciduous woody plant remains alive during the winter by slowing its metabolism to a near stop.  But in a few weeks, warmth and lengthening daylight will end dormancy and trigger fresh growth.   And this moment just before the end of dormancy is when we prune.  Why?  Wounds are open to disease and insects for only a short while before active growth begins healing them.  The plant has the entire growing season to respond to its haircut, set new wood, and look natural again by summer’s end.

Two: specific plant habit.  This prescription can usefully modify seasonal timing.  Some plants (maples, magnolias, birches) are “bleeders,” and will leak sap from pruning cuts for a couple of months in the spring.  This plant habit is the foundation of the maple syrup trade.  Bleeding reportedly does the plant no harm, but it doesn’t help (!), and it is also unsightly.  Instead, opt to prune these plants in late June.   They won’t bleed, and will still have enough of the growing season left to heal their wounds.

Other woody plants, especially our flowering shrubs, have the habit of blooming on “old” wood.  That’s wood that was grown as twigs the summer before.  If we prune these plants in late winter, we cut off all the year’s flower buds.  So, its best practice to prune old wood flowering shrubs just after spring’s bloom fades.  Then, they’ll grow new twigs, set abundant flower buds, and blossom vibrantly next spring.  A great example of this are the evergreen azaleas, which  can be sheared after blooming to within an inch of their lives, and flower like crazy again next spring.

Three: desired product. Why do we prune?  Are we growing a fruit tree or a topiary shrub?  Do we want a formal row of shrubbery, or do we just want to keep the lilacs off of the house?  So, we think about what we want the plant to be, but also think about what the plant will accept from us.  This prescription makes sure our pruning intentions don’t contradict seasonal timing and plant habit.  And taken together, the first three prescriptions build a f foundation for pruning with purpose rather than reckless abandon (as fun as that can be). 

Four: proper cutting technique.  This prescription is important because it recognizes how woody branches heal wounds, and guides us to make cuts that encourage quick recovery.  In brief,

• When removing a side branch, never remove any bark or wood that is part of the main branch or trunk
• Always cut at an angle that is “backwards-in-the-mirror” from the warty branch collar scar growing at the branch base
• And when cutting a twig, try to cut just above a side bud, and at the same slant as the bud
• Finally, use sharp tools, and make cuts that are clean, not ragged

These mechanics are also clearly depicted in the accompanying photos, and the technique can be kept as simple as that. 

I recommend a good pruning book to accompany the four prescriptions.  Find a book with numerous pictures, and a big species-by-species how-to list for the particular habits of our various woody plants.

Of course rules are made to be broken, and evergreens sometimes follow some slightly different protocols. More about pruning in the future, for sure. Otherwise, I think we’re ready to soak up some March sun, and give our yard its annual haircut.

And my own haircut?  Er, I can put that off until April, at least. 

P.S.: If you are interested in the biology behind proper cutting technique, find a book by Alex Shigo (he’s got a few, and they’re mostly interchangeable), or ask me, and I’ll blog about it.

Posted by Mark Bir

 The holiday season is upon us. Many dinners, parties, gatherings, and shopping adventures are before us. My hope is to have time throughout to sit down and read a book. This is partly to keep my sanity, but also, depending on the book, a way to plan and look forward to spring. Gardening  books are great ways to ward off the winter doldrums. How about sharing your favorite titles for a review on here? Give me the titles and authors of some good plant books and maybe we’ll do a little compilation here of our readers’ best suggestions!

Rarely do people at work ask me if something is bothering me. Rather, I’m often told I’m way too happy in the morning. Yes, I might just be a happy kind of person, but I also work in an ideal setting: one surrounded by and filled with plants. This might not seem like an ideal setting for someone allergic to all trees, pollen and grasses known to mankind, but, when properly medicated, it really is. Research shows that working with plants decreases blood pressure, eases stress, and generally makes you feel better. We can probably all agree that working in our gardens does make us feel better (after the Advil has kicked in that night). But the benefits of working with plants also hold true indoors. There are studies of indoor plants filtering indoor air pollution, increasing oxygen and humidity levels, and making indoor spaces more comfortable. Considering my office is surrounded by the most luscious 10 acres I’ve ever seen as well as a Glasshouse crammed full of botanical lovelies, I really don’t have a choice as to whether I’m happy or in a good mood when I come to work. It’s all science. Next time you are feeling blue, my advice: prune your roses, deadhead your petunias, water your jade plant or talk to your Christmas cactus. Cheaper than a therapist and a whole lot more fun.

Mother Earth and her Children: A Quilted Fairy Tale
By Sibylle Von Olfers

I’m not a quilter. I don’t get excited about quilts. I would never, ever, EVER go to a quilt show. But I sure can appreciate the skill and work that goes into making a quilt. And this is half the reason this book is pretty cool – the illustrations are close-ups of an actual, incredibly detailed quilts. The other reason is why the illustrator worked on this 2007 book in the first place. This story is translated from the German tale first published in 1906. The author wrote this poem, originally named Something About the Root Children, while she was a member of the Catholic order of the sister of Holy Elizabeth. The illustrator, Sieglinde Schoen Smith, created the central quilt upon which this poem unfolds in response to the untimely death of her young son. The quilt, shown in its entirety at the end of the book, graphically depicts the entire poem. Each page spread shows just a small part of the quilt, as a photograph. I keep looking at each page, fascinated by the detail of the quilt and amazed that someone in this world had that much patience to complete it. In addition to the what-I-can-only-imagine intricate stitching, she uses much color representation. The whole scene is split almost horizontally showing underground and above. The children undergoing spring awakening are in bold, bright colors; those still underground are in browns and grays.  Details continue as she shows spring blooms such as purple columbine, white lily of the valley, blue bachelor button, and yellow dandelions. Available in our Library and in our Gift Shop.

The Woodland Garden is full of hidden treasures. Many of its interesting plants don’t really leap out at you demanding attention. Instead they simply grow, awaiting the curious or leisurely visitor to discover their hidden charms. 

One of these subtle charmers is the little native perennial known as Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense). It forms colonies of heart-shaped leaves about 4 inches tall. The common name comes from the spicy aroma of its roots. The plant is not related to the culinary spice (Zingiber officinalis), but aparently was used by Native Americans to flavor foods at times.

Another common name for the plant, Monkey jug, is used in the southern states. This seems like a whimsical description for the odd little brown flowers that sprout from the base of the plant in springtime. Not really visible from above without pushing apart the leaves, they seem well-suited for pollination by crawling insects like beetles and ants.  

Posted by Ann McCulloh

That’s the name of the game this week at the Garden. Thanks to the brilliant sunshine, hot temperatures and warm winds of this past weekend, the buds are popping out like popcorn kernels. Everywhere I look, I see tiny explosions of color that combine in drifts and clouds like an Impressionist’s million dots of paint. 

It’s startling to realize what dramatic changes are happening overnight. Each day we make the rounds to monitor selected plants for our participation in Project Budburst. Leaves or flowers that were tightly closed up yesterday are suddenly expanded to 5 times their former size.

Project Budburst is a nationwide citizen science program that tracks the annual growth phases of a variety of plants. Stages like “first leaf,"  “first flower,l" and “first fall color” are recorded and monitored by thousands of people around the country, to assist in the program’s climate studies. Anyone can join in by registering themselves and their chosen species of plants at Project Budburst’s website, which also provides information about plant identification and the the scope of the project. And please visit the Garden to experience ‘bursting’ firsthand. All of the Project Budburst plants are specially labelled, and information about the project can be accessed  at the computer workstations in the Eleanor Squires Library.

Today’s observations at the Garden:

Posted by Ann McCulloh

Whenever a spring snow follows a warm spell, there’s concern over early-blooming flowers. Will the cold temperatures and snow ruin the blossoms, or kill the plants? With a wet snow like the one that fell in Cleveland on Monday, there’s not a whole lot to be concerned about. I just walked around the Garden on Tuesday, snapping pictures of dozens of daffodils, pansies, primulas, hyacinths and the like. All of them seemed to be shaking off their snow caps with no ill effects whatsoever.

The Children’s Garden’s Buried Treasure

This is the time of year when I begin to sow seed indoors. All the vegetables and many of the annuals eventually planted in Hershey Children’s Garden begin their life under two small grow labs near my desk! Here are some of the steps I take:

 1. Sowing Out
 

• Start with fresh seed, clean pots, fresh seed-starting mix and clean hands.
• Fill pot with moistened seed starting mix to within a 1/4” of the rim.     
• Tap seeds onto surface of mix.
• Cover the seed with more seed-starting mix or sphagnum moss if specified on label.
• Cover with plastic and label the pot.
• Place in a warm area that provides heat from the bottom
• Remove plastic cover and mist when soil feel dry to the touch.
• Place on windowsill or under lights

 2. Growing On

• When most of the seeds have germinated remove the plastic.
• For even growth on a windowsill turn regularly. If grown under fluorescent lighting place pot within an inch of the tubes. Lights need to be on for 14 hours a day.
• The first set of leaves are seed leaves. When the second set emerge (true leaves) transplant seedlings into individual clean cell packs or pots.

  3. Hardening Off

• Keep the seedlings to within inches of the lights if grown under fluorescents. Move the plants down as they grow.
• In late spring place flats of seedlings in a shaded area during the day.
• Gradually increase light exposure daily until planting time.
• Plant permanently when weather conditions are correct for the type of plant grown. (See planting directions on seed packet.)

April may be the cruelest month, but March runs a close second, especially for shallow-rooted garden plants. After the protective snow blanket melts away, the top 3-4 inches of soil are exposed to the widely fluctuating air temperatures of early spring. The resulting thaw-freeze-thaw cycles allow ice crystals to form in that top layer of soil, rapidly pushing shallow-rooted plants above ground. Then, when the sun emerges, warm air melts the ice crystals in the bare soil first, while the shaded ice under the plant stays frozen longer. The exposed soil shrinks down, no longer held up by expanded ice, while the plant sits on top of a little ice platform. To make matters worse, spring downpours wash soil from around the plant. A little plant that survived the winter buried in snow is now literally high and dry, with exposed roots vulnerable to the next dry spell or ice storm.