Cool Bark

     With the winter in full swing it is sometimes hard to find things in the landscape to write about and I often end up telling a story or two along the way. This week I concentrate on two things. The very cool looking River Birch and the all important winter pruning. The River Birch is a great species of birch and I am sure I may have covered it here. It has wonderful colors to the bark and it is really highlighted in the winter months. It has rusty tones to the peeling bark with very black nooks and branches. Most grounds managers are using them more and more as they are very resistant to birch borer and holds up very well under drought conditions. This one here is a multi stem one while I have seen some single stem varieties planted along tree belts in East Forest Park. Many of them took some hard blows to the canopy back in the October of 2011 snow storm but are recovering nicely. Very easy tree to have, little clean up and excellent color. If you have the space you should definitely consider one. Can grow to 35 feet high. and 25 feet wide.

     Winter pruning can be a very important step to maintaining a plants health and the size. If you have a large property with many different species of shrubs and ornamentals, now is a good time to get into some of that pruning you may not have had time for during the growing season.Sometimes it is as simple as just removing 4 or 5 of the older and larger canes to thin out the plant like we did here with this viburnum. Also remove any thing that is crossing and remember to never remove more then one third of the plant and you will be in good shape. Winter is also a great time to prune as there are no leafs on the plants and you can see exactly what needs to get cut out. Also if you dress in layers and you get a nice sunny day it is better then working on these plants then in the heat of the summer. I do not suggest this for all plants as I usually like to wait until they have bloomed, but in most cases you can make several cuts with out losing too much in the way of flowering bloom while lowering the canopy and thinning out the species.

Before

After

  








 Hey Patriots fans good luck in the Super Bowl!!! But now you know how it feels to root for a team with so much success. Now you know how it feels to root for a team with so many stars. Now you know how it feels to root for a team with the best coach of the day. Now you know how to root for a team that has its share of controversy. Now you now how it has felt to be a N.Y. Yankee fan in New England.

P.S. Our friend John Bruschi from Albanos market called and said "Its a great crop of wine". I gave him a bottle of the family reserve for the holidays, very glad he approves.

  See you next posting with more historical monuments from Springfield.
                         
                                   Eddie Pags