Pruning

Well Friday is finally here. Another windy day with bad weather set up for the week-end. Todays topic is pruning. This part of the season is a perfect time to do pruning on flowering shrubs. Much of the reason would be for height reduction and shape and structure. After the bloom the plant will put out a ton of new growth. And anywhere you make a cut or snip will send of new shutes. Removing one or two older canes or older wood for a couple of years will greatly reduce the size of the plant over couple of seasons. This method is perfect for foundation plantings. Some of the smaller azeleas can be knuckle cut as well as any yews before you shear them. A knukle cut is a pocket cut or a clean up cut. Reaching into the plant and removing a couple of the shear knuckles will help maintain the size of the plant and allow for air to travel through the plant. The other thing wih pruning is you can not be afraid of it. Go ahead and make a few cuts back to a main stem. The plant will grow back. Carona brand loppers and clippers are very good and I use them. Also the trees on the property need attention for dead wood and structure. The canopy often needs to be raised to allow for more, air, light and water to the turf area or a landscape bed. Oh-yah the tools need to be disinfected after use, and in between shrubs if there is any sign of desease. I use Lysol spray.
We did a bunch of seeding in early march to get it down and I hoped for rain. Well there has been none. We started hand watering some of those areas because germination has been very slow. I also use a lot of gypsum in areas where there has been salt damage. It is an excellent soil repair and helps the soil hold water.

Plant of the Day, Hawthorne. Crataegus Punctala. I have used Ohio Pioneer, it grows 20 to 30 feet and has a nice boquet of white flowers that come out after the fruit trees have bloomed. Also it is thornless.

Quote of the day. Ride out the bad luck, it makes the good luck even more special.

Politics, Suprise only one city truck in our sector of the city. I wonder if they work Fridays or not. I bet the Numbers will be up on Monday. Here's a fact. A Yellow city school bus went Thur the Red light at Bradley and Breckwood this morning.
City Councilor JoseTosado has a good idea of try to get money from exempt institutions in the City of Springfield. Its a good way to get revenue but the colleges will not support it as Baystate Medical does. May-be the city should charge these institutions a fee when our police or fire departments need to respond to a emergency. And raise the inspection fee any of the city departments may be providing.

Again Good Luck and don't forget to get the dirt out of your finger nails before you take your date out to dinner.

Eddie Pags