Hello, fellow lovers of all things green,
Late winter to early spring is the time to address early garden tasks, such as cutting back ornamental grasses and perennials left standing for winter interest and providing a habitat for beneficial insects. But be sure to give the critters a chance to emerge, typically after temperatures that rise above 50 degrees for about a week. Another task is rejuvenating pruning shrubs that need a fresh start.
There are two ways to Rejuvenate Lilac
My Palibin Lilac
Clients from long ago occasionally reappear, asking for guidance. Bonnie from Stillwater, NJ, is planning a monarch garden, which I helped her with, which led to plans to refurbish some of her existing shrubs planted long ago. Her overgrown Palabin Lilac (Syringa meyeri) needs to be rejuvenated, and late winter or early spring is a perfect time, just as the plant is coming out of dormancy.
There are two ways to rejuvenate lilacs. Cut back a third of the branches each year to six to eight inches, cutting out the dead wood in the center of the plant, and do so for three consecutive years until the plant is completely rejuvenated. That way, you can have some blooms yearly during the restoration, as lilacs bloom on old wood. Or you can do a total rejuvenation in one year.
Pruning Boxwood and ‘Graham Blandy’
Bonnie also has a unique plant I look forward to tackling: a Graham Blandy Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Ken Druse, a well-known gardening author nearby, has them, and he cleverly lassos them with yarn to exaggerate their svelteness. They make a striking invitation into a charming stone bridge topped in turf, leading to an alluring lawn embraced with glorious garden goodies.
Bonnie’s Graham Blandy has never been pruned and is overwhelming the front stairs to her home, rising above the roof. You need to refurbish a boxwood over several years. Never remove more than a third of a boxwood’s mass in a given time. Early spring is the best time. Be sure to use clean tools, as Boxwood blight is devastating, many of them.
Graham Blandy grows to be 15 feet tall and about 18 to 24 inches wide, but Bonnie’s is chubbier than that. You can maintain the height at five feet if you prune Graham Blandy occasionally. But topping a plant is not a good idea because it weakens the canopy, and if there’s a snow load, it could devastate the plant. And so, hers will remain standing tall, but we’ll work on making Graham thinner (Smile).
Cleaning out our Garden of Life
Speaking of rejuvenation and removing dead wood, spring is a perfect time to clean things out: out of our homes, in our gardens, and our garden of life, including improving our outlook. With all the controversy and divisiveness, it’s hard to stay positive, but we can find respite and wisdom in nature and our gardens. There’s something greater at work here; only the collective energy and actions of individuals and communities can turn things around.
My dear friend Vicki Johnson, whose tips on Encouraging Indoor Blooms of Hope I shared, sends the most lovely cards. I received one last week that especially speaks to me. The front of the card has a beautiful photo of her beloved cat, Lucy, sleeping in a nest of white bedding, and inside is a poem by Langston Hughes titled Dream Keeper.
‘Bring me all your dreams, you dreamers. Bring me all of your heart melodies. That I may wrap them in a blue cloud-cloth. Away from the too rough fingers of the world.’
Yes, indeed, the rough fingers, the controversy, the divisiveness. Let’s wrap each other in love instead. Only love can heal us from the too rough fingers of our world.
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone@gmail.com and your favorite Podcast App.
There’s more to the story in the Garden Dilemma’s Podcast:
How kind of Bonnie to send a thank you note.
Links to related stories you’ll enjoy:
Rejuvenation Pruning Lifts Hearts
Rejuvenation Pruning & Smokebush
Root Pruning and Journey of Growth
