My guess is that you garden because you enjoy growing plants for flowers and for some food. It is a great satisfaction to bring in food & flowers that you grew yourself.  My hope is that you do this mostly using organic practices.  Perhaps you also buy organic foods when you can.  If you also feel that organic foods tend to be too expensive to buy all the time, you might like to watch this short (3 minute) video published by PBS on the real cost of organic foods (or, why is “cheap” food so cheap?).  This is a very helpful introduction to the important issue of food production costs and worth thinking about every time you make a food purchase choice.  Please feel free to send in your thoughts!

Spring Pruning

What can I do outside soon?  After the snow is gone use the nicer days to your advantage and get your pruning and cleanup done.  Pruning is best done while woody plants are still dormant, before their buds swell (usually about mid-April).  In general, prune out all dead, diseased or damaged stems and branches.  Make your pruning cuts of side branches close to the main stem, just outside the enlarged “collar” or just outside lateral buds so they can can grow new branches.  This is a great time to manage shape & size by cutting off those drooping or too long branches and downward growing branches.  UVM Extension has helpful videos online to show the basics of good pruning practices.  A few of my own suggestions:  

Raspberries – cut out all the old canes that fruited last season plus any short, spindly canes at ground level.  Also, you can cut back young canes to 5-6 ft. to reduce floppiness or excessive height.  If you have everbearing that tried to bear a second fall crop you should cut those canes down just below the lowest fruit bunches as they won’t repeat fruiting on that top area.

Blueberries – cut out any dead or damaged branches.  In mature bushes (over 5 years old) select a mix of young and mature healthy branches to leave and thin out over-crowded branches to allow sunlight and air flow through the bush.  This year’s flower buds are already set on blueberries so don’t shorten saved stems or you may remove this season’s berries.

Apple & Pears – remove all dead or damaged branches and any “suckers” (branches that grow straight up from the main trunk or side branches.  Remove branches that cross, grow downward or head centrally.  After pruning, apply a dormant oil spray covering all surfaces well (especially the buds) from the ground up to the top to smother over-wintering pest insect eggs.  Do this on a calm day when the temperature is above 40.  We’ll repeat this application after the leaf buds swell and again after they just open but before blossoms open to get most of the larvae hiding in the bark and buds.

Hydrangeas – in Mount Holly we mostly have only smooth or panicle hydrangeas that bloom on new wood. (Big white blossoms) They don’t require pruning, but you’ll get bigger blossoms if you cut all of last year’s canes back to the ground.  I leave a number of strong young canes (straight and gray colored) for early greening and to provide support for new canes.

Do not prune forsythia, rhododendron, spiraeas, clethras, viburnums, or lilacs until after they have finished blossoming (except to remove dead or damaged branches). Their flower buds are already present on last year’s wood and pruning them now would remove this year’s blossoms!

Lawns – Despite the commercial push for lawn fertilizers and weed killers in the spring, this is not the best time to feed your lawn.  Spring fertilization stimulates top growth (more mowing!) at the expense of root growth.  This causes an overgrowth early in the season but a lawn that will require excessive watering in late summer.  Spring is a good time to apply limestone if your soil pH is lower than 6.5 to prepare your soil for fall fertilizing, which favors strong root growth and healthier grass.