Upcoming Meeting

Avery Howell, Landscape Architect and owner of Proclaim Landscape Associates, talked of pruning for results . . .

with timing to be aggressive early so there is need to do less later. Pruning principles are:

• Why:  Corrective, for Shape (end effect), to Encourage flowers or fruit, for Damage removal
• When:  Generally, while shrub or tree is dormant and you can see its structure - Corrective pruning done in late winter, Cosmetic pruning (trimming, which is repetitive) done in summer (June-July), Clean up pruning done in late fall (November)
• How:  Right equipment (hand pruners, saws, lopers), Right cut – angled, above bud, Right amount – rule of taking off about one-third

Avery cautioned not to just shear everything – this needs constant repeating.

He said to evaluate existing shrubs and shrub groupings . . . some plants simply need to be removed.

Also, we were urged to live in the 21st Century and buy from the numerous arrays of hybrids grown for smaller size.

Generally, they don’t need any pruning.

In October 2019, Sherry Brownlee discussed how lichen feeds insects, small mammals and butterfly larvae,

and is also an indicator of how clear of pollution the air is. 

Some lichen grow with moss but are not moss; nor is lichen a plant. Lichen is a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi.

There are many colors and about 20,000 species. The most common is the green we see growing on tree trunks and branches.

In November, Sherry displayed samples of fall leaf color taken from trees in her garden.

These included Sourwood, Red Maple, Kousa Dogwood, Bottlebrush Buckeye and native Blueberries.

For January 2020, Sherry emphasized 'Structure in the Garden', describing several backbone plants used in her garden.

She said that broadleaf evergreens and conifers make up the spine of a garden.

 In February, Sherry asked the group if they were keeping data about their plants, indicating that Fine Gardening readers submit suggestions for storing tags and recording information. She showed some pages of a 3-ring binder she keeps on her hundreds of plants,

noting how plastic sheets used for baseball card collecting make handy storage for tags.