Many landscape plants will require pruning at some stage of their life. Plants may need to be pruned to reduce or maintain plant size or to remove dead or damaged material. Pruning is also used to reduce overcrowding and rejuvenate older, overgrown plants to produce more flowering, fruiting and/or leaf canopy. Using the right tool for the job will help protect both plant and human. Both the size of the material being cut and its […]
Instead of throwing out that pineapple top, turn it into a houseplant! Carrot tops and avocado pits can also be salvaged from the garbage pail to the ranks of houseplants. To grow a pineapple, cut off the leafy top, leaving about a one-fourth inch of the fruit attached. Scoop out the pulp and let the top air dry for a few days. Then, press the top into a pot or pan of moistened rooting media, […]
Christmas cacti are not only popular holiday gift plants, but they are also the subject of frequent debate among gardeners. There appears to be much confusion about these unique tropical cacti regarding care, maintenance and, especially, on how to get them to re-bloom. The following tips address the most frequently asked questions. We typically think of cacti as being heat tolerant, but Christmas cacti will keep their blossoms longer in cooler temperatures. Keep the plant […]
The recent warm spell has many a gardener wondering what to do about bulbs–and perhaps a few other plants poking their foliage through the soil. This is the time of year when we normally expect temperatures to be cold enough to signal the hardening-off period to plants. And for a brief while, it was cold enough to start that process. The longer the warm spell, however, the more plants have begun to sprout new growth […]
The conflict between trees and utility lines is fresh on my mind, having just experienced the power company removing a significant number of limbs from two lovely old pine trees in the right-of-way behind my property. And I’m in good company with many homeowners who have experienced either the loss of a tree or a significant portion of a tree due to the need to keep the limbs from taking out power to the neighborhood. […]
Each year the National Garden Bureau selects a flower to promote, and this year Centaurea is in the spotlight. Centaurea actually includes a number of species that gardeners are more familiar with by their common names–bachelor’s button, cornflower and mountain bluet. Some are annual flowers and some are perennial, but all are great additions to the gardener’s palette. Centaurea also make excellent cut flowers for both fresh and dried arrangements. Bachelor’s button, Centaurea cyanus, is […]
There’s no better time of year to browse the new gardening catalogs than during these winter doldrums. A quick glance at the first few pages of most catalogs will clue you in as to what’s new for this gardening season. With all the talk about “nutraceuticals” (foods that promote good health or even prevent disease), there are some new cultivars that offer enhanced nutritional value. Carrot ‘Nutri-Red,’ a red carrot high in lycopene (an anti-oxidant), […]
Winter days may be gloomy and dull, but you can give your home a touch of spring by forcing landscape branches to bloom indoors. Spring-flowering trees and shrubs set their flower buds the previous fall. Once the buds have been exposed to cold for several months (usually by mid-January), a branch can be cut and forced to bloom indoors. The easiest branches to force include forsythia, pussy willow, honeysuckle, crabapple, redbud, magnolia and flowering dogwood. […]
The Perennial Plant Association has selected Feather Reed Grass, cultivar Karl Foerster, as the 2001 Perennial Plant of the Year. Feather reed grass is an outstanding plant for the garden and landscape as a specimen plant or in mass plantings. Karl Foerster, in particular, is quite versatile given its compact habit. Known botanically as Calamagrostis x acutiflora, the species feather reed grass grows 4-5 feet tall with feathery plumes appearing in early summer. The cultivar […]
Most folks think of mistletoe as an excuse for smooching around the holiday, and today, there probably aren’t too many people who have actually seen anything but plastic mistletoe! But, in fact, there is a real plant that is the true mistletoe. Well, actually, several types of mistletoe exist, including American Mistletoe and European Mistletoe. These two are different, but related, species of parasitic shrubs. Both have small, leathery leaves and translucent, white berries. American […]