Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
A family rejuvenate pruning and overgrown foundation planting along a brick-faced house.

Rejuvenation Pruning Lifts Hearts

Hello fellow readers; Rejuvenation pruning lifts hearts, including mine, as I joined a lifelong friend and her grown sons to rejuvenate overgrown shrubs and renew their gardens. I hope you enjoy the story. It’s always fun to have a new hairdo, as has my friend Michele, who lives
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a pink flowering weeping cherry tree with reverted white flowering straight branches

Reverting Weeping Cherry

Hello, fellow readers. What’s this about trees reverting back to their roots? Marcia from Columbia, NJ, sent a photo of her pink flowering weeping cherry. “There are two large boughs with pure white blossoms.” The tree looks like it has a spikey haircut as the white
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yellow forsythia in bloom with the ealry morning making it glow

Forsythia not Blooming?

Hello fellow readers, Denise from Mt. Tabor, PA, asked why her forsythia aren’t blooming. You’re not the only one, Denise; mine hasn’t either for over two years. Non-blooming forsythia most often has to do with improper pruning. Though deer browse, not enough sunlight, improper
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A rejuvinated pruned maroon leaf smokebush in bloom that looks like smok

Rejuvenation Pruning & Smokebush

Hello Fellow Readers, It felt therapeutic to tend to rejuvenation pruning of the Smokebush and other shrubs over the weekend. Rejuvenation pruning is drastically cutting back overgrown plants to restore them to their intended shape. Or, to manage its size, which was the case of my Smo
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Deer-Browsed-Hydrangea

When to Prune Hydrangea, Deer!

Hello Fellow Readers, Deer devastation is ramping up in our neck of the woods. I woke to the swath of Bigleaf hydrangeas mowed down despite precautionary spraying using Deer Out, an organic go-to. I’ve used it for years. The devastation brought weepy eyes, which seems silly in h
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, Early Spring Trasnplants, Root Pruning

Root Pruning

Hello Fellow Readers, Last week, we spoke about Early Spring Transplants, and the question of root pruning came up from Brian of Stone Church PA. Great question, Brian. Transplanting is always stressful for plants, especially for the feeder roots, those most responsible for bringing n
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blog, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach, NJ Garden Speaker, 'Phenomenal' Lavender, Cutting back Woody Pernnials

Spring Cleanup & Pruning Lavender

Hello Fellow Readers, At last, the big cleanup. Curt and I spent eight hours cleaning up branches, sticks, and wheelbarrows of hickory nut hulls. The critters ate the nuts and left the husks. Talk about poor table manners. Then there were the bucket loads of cones, a sign our hemlocks
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withered and curled leaves from aphid damage on leatherleaf viburnum

Reasons to Prune

Hello fellow readers, The reasons to prune are similar to the reasons for caring for ourselves and our families– Improving appearance and health, training the young, controlling size, preventing injury or damage, rejuvenating the old, and influencing bounty. But choosing the rig
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