Early Spring Garden Maintenance

We begin our spring housekeeping by pruning our Hydrangea paniculata. These plants only bloom on new growth, so pruning is required each spring to encourage a hearty, thick- stemmed plant while also increasing the number of flowering blooms you will enjoy all season long. Each stem cut will produce two new stems, which will in turn, produce two blooms. If you don’t prune back the stems they will  become weak and elongated this  will cause the blooms to flop to the ground and cause the plant to look like an umbrella.

Prune just above the first or second node on each branch. you will be pruning off a large portion of the plant but remember they grow a good 4 feet each year! The node are the points on the stems where the buds, leaves and branching twigs originate. A node is a knob-like slight thickening of the wood and  looks like a joint in the stem.

We prune ours back to either knee, or waist high, depending on the plants age. We want to encourage overall mature growth while still controlling the size as much as possible.

Another task we are completing is pruning our Helleborus orientalis – Lenten Rose.

By removing the marred, unsightly foliage it will also allow beautiful new flowers to bloom this spring.

Be careful however, to not to prune the flower buds which you will find emerging close to the soil.

A final step we take here at Linden Hill is to clear all the debris from the garden beds. Leaves, sticks and any weeds that somehow managed to overwinter need to all be removed. We recommend a top dressing of a slow release organic fertilizer such as Plant Tone. Broadcast the fertilizer evenly over the garden beds. Once the ground is sufficiently dry it is also a good time to begin edging your beds, this will create a fresh, crisp appearance and greatly improve the overall appearance of the garden

By taking the time now to clean up the garden it will ensure a healthy start for new plant growth and make for more lush foliage and blooms in the months to come.