Sunrise Landscape Designs

White flecks on the needles of a green Christmas tree may look like flakes of snow but if they don’t melt away in your living room they are scale insects. Don’t worry, the insects are probably dead although their waxy coatings hide numerous eggs destined to hatch during May. Because there is a chance these eggs might survive the elements, avoid using these infested branches for mulching the gardens.

Poinsettias do not like soggy soil! Punch a drainage hole through the foil wrap of your Christmas poinsettias and set the plant on a plate for excess water to drain off.

Many of us are from the cold climate and are wondering about the same issues. Here’s a question from Susan, a GGT reader in Grand Haven, MI:

Last year the new growth on my Hydrangea seemed to come from the ground or very low on the branch. Should I prune them back at all? How much? And is fall pruning OK?

There are many different varieties of Hydrangea and there are different ways to care for them. I suspect you have a Macrophylla as they frequently act as a perennial if exposed to extreme winter temperatures; dying back to the root system. The following is a short list of Hydrangea varieties to choose from.

Annabelle Hydrangea (3′ plant with large round white blooms) can be wrapped for winter protection (I don’t) but if left unprotected, delay any Spring pruning until the buds swell in order to determine which wood needs to be removed, and then cut back to below the point of injury. This method also works well for the Macrophylla that have pink or blue blooms. I have pruned my hydrangea back in the fall to tidy up my garden but it is preferred to wait until spring. If you have a Climbing Hydrangea, no pruning should be required. With the Oakleaf Hydrangea (a shade loving plant with oak-shaped leaves), I wait to prune it until mid-late spring. The PeeGee Hydrangea can be kept quite large (5-6′) but should still be rejuvenated by removing spent flowers and taking out 1/3 of the older stems down to the ground after flowering is finished. Or, if young, you can give it a general rounded pruning after flowering.

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people.

For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are.
Let us give thanks:

For generous friends…with hearts…and smiles as bright as their blossoms;

For feisty friends, as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, as plain as potatoes and so good for you;

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes;
And serious friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter;

For old friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts, and witherings; And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter.

For all these we give thanks.
(From the writings of Rev Max Coots )

This weeks garden tip stems from a question from Wendy; one of our readers. She asked, “Is it too late to transplant my Ninebark bushes and Spruce trees? Also, does it make a difference that we have small stone that covers the area instead of mulch?”

I answered: “This is an excellent time to be transplanting! The roots of the plants will keep growing until the ground is frozen (~January?) and the roots start growing again in early spring before the leaves come out. You get a double advantage to transplanting now instead of waiting until next summer. As far as stone vs. bark, it really doesn’t matter. The stone is a tidy cover but the bark will break down into organic matter and enrichen the soil over time. If you already have decent soil, you should be fine.”

Mounding of light garden soil is a good way to “winterize” rose bushes. Mounding insulates the bud head, where the select variety is grafted to the rootstock. Don’t draw soil from between the rose bushes to make the mounds however, as that may expose the roses root area. First, tie the canes into a bundle with soft twine, then, gently place the saved soil over the rose bush in a 10″ mound. The mound protects the graft while the bundling of the canes provides strength to resist the winter winds. Mounding time arrives sometime around Thanksgiving Day or after the ground gets a good freezing crust.

If you have any helpful methods for over-wintering roses, send me an email and I will share it with our readers.

Every fall I get asked this same question so I though some of you might be wondering about it too. “Why are the needles on the pine trees turning yellow?” This is a natural, annual occurence with many evergreen trees and is especially visual on white pines because the needles are longer and the trees grow with a more open habit. It is usually the second or third previous years (or the oldest) growth that turns yellow and eventually falls to the ground. The needles on the ends of the branches should still be green and flexible and if you look at the inside of most evergreen trees, you will notice there are no inner needles closer to the trunk. This is how we get that beautiful soft pine forest floor.

When moving patio plants indoors for the colder winter months, avoid bringing outside pests along. A stinging spray of water will dislodge some insects, or you can spray with an appropriate insecticide. I prefer to use a Systemic House Plant Insect Control product. The way it works is you sprinkle the granules on the soil in the container. Mix the granules into the top soil and water it in. The chemical released from the product will be absorbed into the plant’s root system and work its way up through the entire plant. Any insects that try to suck juices from the plant leaves or stems will get the chemical and die. The product does not hurt my houseplants, however there is a very slight odor for the first day or two if you are close to the plant. This should help keep the pests away for the long winter months.

The choice of which plants to cut back and which ones to leave standing depends on two things. First, do they look good in the winter months? A few of the perennials that I think look good in the snow are: Ornamental Grasses, Sedum, Black-Eyed Susan, and Dianthus. Look at your garden and make your own choices. If you leave them up and they end up looking wilted or floppy, take them down when you can and remember that for the next year. Candytuft and Bergenia are considered evergreens and can be left alone.

Second, do they need a little extra protection from the weather? Perennials that grow as a low mound like Coral Bells, benefit from leaving the foliage on until spring. Also, Red Hot Poker Plant and Butterfly Bush like to be left alone until spring. The top foliage offers them a little extra protection.

The threat of a hard frost is here! Your hostas may still be looking pretty good but right now is the time to cut them back. Hosta is more difficult to cut if you wait until after the frost because it gets the texture of limp lettuce and that doesn’t cut well. I recommend doing the “ponytail cut” method. Grab the hosta leaves close to the ground like you would a clump of ponytail hair and with your pruners, cut the leaves off as close to the ground as you can. Dispose of the cuttings into a mulch pile or trash but do not leave them in the garden because insects like to over-winter in dead leaf residue.

It is hard to resist the beautiful fall flowering mums we see in masses at many of the large chain stores. The prices are dirt cheap and the plants look so healthy. Unfortunately, many of these fall mums are not grown in Michigan and they may not be winter hardy here. The store clerk will probably not be able to tell you where the plants are from so you take your chances or consider them as annuals. The best bet is to buy mums from a Michigan grower. The price may be a few dollars more but who wants to dig a hole twice?