Vande Hey Design Center

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

With Winter Burn. Patience is Still a Virtue

It's mid-June and many of our winter burned evergreens are on the mend.  New growth is beginning to hide the damage and a simple brush of your hand goes a long way in removing the remaining brown foliage.  Despite these encouraging signs, it could be one or two growing seasons before the plants look the way they did last fall.  The good news is there is hope.  Make sure the evergreens stay well watered and fed through the summer and you'll have done all you can do for now.

So what about those Evergreens that, despite some new growth, are mostly brown and still look awful?  I'm afraid the answer is mostly more patience.  The cool weather has many plants just putting on their spring growth and with time, they will see new growth as well.  However, in this case, there might be some steps you can take beside waiting.  As stated earlier, keep the plants well watered and fed with a mild fertilizer such as Milorganite or Miracid.  Consider pruning back the brown branches until you find new growth or the stems become green and supple.  Once we've given the plants a few more weeks and cleaned out the truly dead material, you will have a decision to make.  Do you give the plant one more a season to grow back or do you move ahead with a replacement?  Horticulturally, these plants will come back, but aesthetically it may be time to go.  Ultimately, the choice is yours.

Whether your plants are once again flourishing or still looking sad, it if safe to say our landscape will continue to show the scars of the past winter for many years to come.

Monday, June 9, 2014

It's never too late!

All too often I hear people tell me that you simply cannot plant after Memorial Day.  Once the calendar hits June 1st, all planting must stop until the fall.  This may have been true once but not anymore.

In the past, many trees and shrubs were only available bare root, a condition when the plants were literally sold with no soil or pot to contain them.  Bare root plants came packed in moist peat moss or saw dust and needed to be planted before the leaves developed.  Even when stored in cold storage, most bare root plants needed to find a permanent home before Memorial Day.  This is probably where the advice to plant prior to Memorial Day came from.

Today, most items are sold either potted or balled and burlapped which means we can plant and improve the appearance of our homes and landscapes from April to frost.  So what is my advice to you now that June is busting out all over?  Relax, plant, and enjoy your home and garden all summer long.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Rose Care

"How do I prune my roses?" is a very common question and one that often puts terror in the eyes of the new rose grower.  Yet the pruning of roses, especially the lower maintenance shrub roses, is quite simple and easy to master.

Seasonal pruning of roses begins in the spring as our snow melts and leaves begin to appear once again on our plants.  The first step is the remove any materials broken or killed by the winter.  Begin by simply removing any broken branches.  Now attempt to remove any stem or portion of stem that has not survived the winter.  Winter-damaged growth will be black in comparison to the green growth of surviving tissue.  Simply remove the blackened stems down to the remaining green growth.  Once this is done, step back and look at what remains.  Your second goal of spring pruning is to create a symmetrical look to the plants.  Reduce the size of the largest stems down to the height of the smallest stems.  Now make one final cut on each stem to encourage strong, healthy growth.  This cut should be made about 1/8th of an inch above a bud or developing stem that faces outward.  With this, your spring pruning is complete.

As the season progresses, your rose will grow and flower throughout the year.  As the flowers fade and the petals eventually fall, it becomes time to change to deadheading mode.  Deadheading is the technical term for removing the spent blossoms.  Once the flowers have faded, prune back the flowering stem to just above a leaf comprised of 5 healthy leaflets.  By doing so, you will promote a strong, new shoot to grow in its place that will eventually develop buds and flowers in about 3-4 weeks.

Fall pruning is even easier...there is none!  As we reach the early fall, stop all pruning on your roses, even the deadheading.  This will encourage the plant to think winter and prepare for the long months ahead.  Next spring simple repeat the process and your roses will be the shapeliest in the neighborhood.