Ten Best Articles On Pruning

the gardener — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:28:36 +0000

When and how should you prune? This is an important question when you care about the health of valuable trees, shrubs, and plants. It also makes a difference in the blossom and fruits for that year. So I thought I would gather together the ten best resources of the web in one place, and then follow those ten with other helpful pruning articles (including my own!) to give you the information you need to prune at the right time and in the right way.

The Basics of Pruning:

Why prune?

get rid of dead and damaged parts
direct the growth of the branches (plant)
encourage new growth
fix some growth problems such as weakness
prevent future problems, such as disease from lack of air circulation, damage from crossing branches,etc

What tools?

pruning shears for smaller branches
loppers for larger sizes
a pruning handsaw for the largest branches

Get the best quality shears and loppers you can afford. Handsaws, such as a Japanese handsaw, are perfectly fine if of average quality.

If using a lopper for a fairly good size branch, position the end of one handle on your shoulder and use both hands to exert pressure from the other handle. If this isn’t enough to do the job, it is time to grab the saw- even if the diameter didn’t seem to merit it.

Another tool often spoken of by English gardeners and professional nurserymen is the pruning knife. I think this is one tool I haven’t used that I would greatly appreciate. There are times I just grub off excess twigs, but I think a pruning knife would work well in many situations. Sometimes the pruners just don’t make as clean a cut on the more flexible branches.

When pruning large branches make sure you do the undercut first. That is the cut underneath the branch, so that as you saw through and get to where the weight of the branch might pull it down, it will not strip off the bark as it breaks away.

A saw cuts with the pull.

Prune out inside branches, especially those that cross.
Prune damaged branches and too strong growth that sprouts straight upward.
Prune older branches on the inside of shrubs, to help give the newer growth a boost.
Prune shrubs after they bloom.

The Ten Best Articles on Pruning

How to Prune Trees USDA article.
OSU Fruit Pruning Guide
Pruning Shrubs, an overview.
PDF file illustrating 9 pruning methods; also lists many shrubs and the method recommended.
Pruning Heritage Roses
Pruning the Three Types of Clematis
Master Gardener’s Guide
Calender Chart for Shrubs
Quick Pruning Tips- Printable
Arborday Animated Tutorial

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Growing vegetables: cultivation

the gardener — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:46:31 +0000

Gardening is half science and half art. There is a huge knowledge base for growing plants well, especially food plants, but thankfully the knack can be developed with not too much trouble because plants basically just need the earth, the sun, and water and they are bent on growing and producing. We benefit. Yet, there is much we may do to encourage optimum results. This is a compilation of tips, and knowledge tidbits to that end.

General Vegetable Garden Techniques

The most basic gardening method consists of long, single rows of vegetables spaced widely apart. That is the way I have raised vegetables for the most part, and the way many choose. The ground is usually tilled seasonally, raked smooth and then planted. The upside of this gardening method is that the plants receive the sun, moisture and nutrients they need with good air circulation. The downside is the waste of space and the need to cultivate it more than more intensive methods.
Raised or lowered beds create smaller spaces that make better usage of soil amendments, gardener energy, and keep soil tilth in good condition. Drawbacks can be that they dry out too quickly or hold too much water (lowered beds). Double Digging can be practiced in permanent beds.
Raised beds make good use of space
Vertical gardening, using posts, trellises, and other supports for space saving upward growth is often used with all gardening methods. Tomato cages, or stakes are commonly seen. The Three Sisters combination uses corn as a natural support for vertical growth of bean plan plants.
Interplanting can help keep insect and disease problems under control. This method combines more than one type of crop in the same space. Again, “Three Sisters” is an example. Plants like carrots and radishes can be planted together. This method creates a diversity of plantings
Succession planting is used to replace harvested crops with another to gain more production over the growing season from the same space. Lettuce crops replaced by beans, or corn after spring peas are possibilities.
No dig, no till gardening in a method called Lasagna Gardening, has been praised by some and panned by others. It is a sheet compost method creating by staking out the area, layering organic materials starting with something like cardboard, coir, peat moss, grass clippings, etc. adding top dressings of wood ashes, bone meal and such things. “Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding! ” is the book that gives you complete details if you are interested in this approach. A method for smaller garden scale is also available,”Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces “
Front Yard Vegetable Gardening, is one of the new/old garden techniques that bring past methods back into production. Think of the old fashioned cottage garden. It was a mix of vegetables herbs, and flowering plants, all grown intensively in the front yards of people that needed to make every foot of space work for them.

delicious harvest

Vegetable Tips Next