Sunrise Landscape Designs

While having lunch with a colleague, she told me she had a revision to my advice on pruning Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ so I will pass it on to you. Vicki has had a lot of experience pruning and her best experience with this plant is to prune it exactly in half in the spring. She claims the plant will have beautiful large blooms that year. Since Vicki lives in Perry, Michigan, her techniques should be appropriate to all of us.

Thank you for your great advice! Gardeners are renowned for their love of sharing.

Now it looks like winter in Michigan!

Although the snow and ice are beautiful to look at, when it comes down this wet and heavy, it can be very destructive to plants. If your plants are drooping from the weight of snow, take a leaf rake or broom and carefully sweep some of the snow off the branches. Don’t worry about removing it all, any weight off will help.

If your plants are drooping, like mine are, from the heavy ice storm, don’t touch them. Unfortunately, it’s going to stay cold for a few days and the ice isn’t going to melt. When it does warm up, the ice will melt off and the branches should go back to their original position. The birch trees that are arching over and touching the ground may need to be staked in the spring until they fully stand up straight on their own. If branches are broken, prune them off.

If you have the tall, slender, evergreens like arborvitae or cedars and they have split like a peeled banana, gently sweep off any snow you can. (If it’s ice, leave them alone for now.) When it’s warm enough that the branches are pliable, pull them back up straight and tie them together on the inside of the plant with twine. The twine shouldn’t show and it will eventually rot away. By this time, the plant will have recovered and be strong enough to stand on it’s own.

Are your landscape plants being served as a delicacy to the local deer or rabbits? This has been a mild winter but once the wildlife finds out you’re serving their favorite dish, it’s hard to get rid of them. But how can you tell who’s doing the damage? Well, there is an easy way to distinguish the deer from the rabbits. Deer bites are jagged and torn; they bite and pull. Rabbits have been known to chew around entire stems like other small critters do but if they chew off branches, you will see a distinct 45 degree cut.

There are some favorite plants these animals love but if it’s a cold enough winter, they will eat just about anything. To keep them away from the plants, the best remedy I know of is a good dog. Fencing, such as chicken wire, works well also. There are products such as Deer Away that can be sprayed on the leaves of favorite plants but it does need to be reapplied after the rain or snow melt.

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• Overall height is 24″ and sprays only over area to be protected

If you wander around the yard, you may be surprised at what you’ll find. I received a call from a concerned gardener who spotted his daffodil bulbs poking their noses through the ground already! We have had such a mild winter this year that the ground is barely frozen. In fact, there have been many intervals this year where there was no frost at all in the ground. This is should not bother the spring flowering bulbs. As the ground gets colder again, the bulbs slip back into dormancy and wait for the next warm spell.

Take care not to step on the new growth as it will cause bent leaves and could prevent them from coming up at all. Some springs we have seen early flowering bulbs with snow on them! That is a beautiful sight but the blooms wilt fast when frozen.

If you get anxious for spring every year, you may want to consider planting Helleborus (Lenten Rose). This is a very early bloomer and flowers March-May. I would recommend planting it close to an entry or walk so you don’t miss the blooms. Contact me if you would like to order this spring teaser.

If you’re getting spring fever, I have just the cure – pruning! The best time to prune your deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves for the winter) is in the winter when you can easily see the branching patterns.

The first step is to cut away any branches that are dead or broken. Next, remove any branches that rub against each other or rub against the house. If you’re pruning a shade tree, you might need to “raise the canopy.” In other words, remove the lower branches so more of the trunk is showing and you can walk or mow underneath the tree. Now shape the tree. If you are in doubt as to what shape your tree should have, look for a picture of your tree at maturity in a plant book and strive towards that look.

These techniques do not apply to edible fruit trees. They require special pruning techniques that help increase fruit production. Also, do not prune your evergreen trees yet. Evergreens are usually pruned in early summer. Watch your Great Gardening Tips for a reminder on when and how to prune evgs. as the time gets closer.

Bundle up and get pruning!

I don’t know about all of you but I’m getting cabin fever already! I’m feeling the desire to get my hands into the soil and move plants around. How about attending to those house plants that get neglected over the summer months? If any of your house plants have outgrown the size of their containers, spend a little time re-potting.

When choosing a container, upscale only one pot size. If you put a small plant into a large pot, it will expend most of it’s energy into root growth and you will be waiting a while before you see any top growth. I like to buy containers that have drainage holes with drip trays underneath. The holes make it very hard to over-water a plant. If you have a cactus, a clay pot works well. The clay is pourous and allows the soil to dry out faster.

Never put old, worn out soil back into the pot; replenish it with fresh potting soil. The plant will benefit from the extra nutrients found in the fresh potting soil.

Orchids suffer if they are over-watered. Half a teacup a week is usually sufficient and if, when you push two joints of your little finger into the pot you feel any moisture there, don’t water at all.

I have been asked what the impact of this unusually warm winter is having on our outdoor plant life. Well, when we have snow, it does provide a nice blanket of protection to insulate the plants and keep them in their cold dormancy state. The hardest thing for new plantings is to have freezing, thawing, freezing, thawing, over and over. This tends to pop them up like rocks in the farmers fields. If this happens to your plants, go out during a thaw and gently step around the root ball and push them back down into contact with the soil.

There is an advantage to this warm winter. The ground went for a long time without freezing and, depending on how large the plant is, the roots have been able to keep growing. We should see a lot of growth out of our plants in the next growing season!

January is a great time to focus on your inside plants. The greenhouses and retail stores are eager to sell them to us and the choices are plentiful right now. But, the snow is blowing, the temperature is below zero and the car is way across the parking lot. How do you get the plants home without giving them frostbite? An easy solution is to bring along a trash bag (or use the store bags) large enough to fit the entire pot and plant inside. If the plant is too large, at least enclose the foliage. Blow your own warm breathe into the bag like a half inflated balloon and tie the end tight. This provides a mini-greenhouse which should keep the plant warm enough until it gets home.

If your Holly, Rhododendron, Boxwood or Azalea are planted in a location with too much exposure to the winter sun and wind, these broadleaf evergreens can suffer by getting black leaf margins, dead leaves, or an entire plant can die. An anti-transpirant spray (such as Wilt-Pruf) can help. The spray covers the leaves and stems with a wax-like coating. The down side of the sprays is that they do need to be reapplied as it eventually washes off from the rain or snow.

Another option to the spray would be to wrap burlap around the plant to protect it. This does work but is rather unsightly. The best method is to put the right plant in the right space.

Also, check the condition of tender flower bulbs in storage. If shriveling a bit, sprinkle with water. Discard any rotted ones instantly and dust the remainder with sulfur.

Before you drag your Christmas tree to the curb to be thrown in the trash truck, consider keeping it around the yard for the birds. Tie the tree to a tall post or shade tree and it will stay green for months. The evergreen will offer the birds a lot of coverage from the cold winter winds. Strings of popcorn and suet balls can decorate the tree and the winter birds will love it!