There is always an interesting early season stretch between the end of winter and early spring. It’s warmer but not yet officially spring and many people struggle to find proper work on their sites. Nobody wants to openly admit it, but this is where Vas’ vast field experience kicks in. Let’s take a look.
Not like this
Bedwork and deep-edging aren’t extremely popular tasks so many people reach for their power shears. I think it’s too early, especially when you consider the nighttime lows.
The mornings are still chilly and most shrubs are still fragile. I’m always afraid of injuring them by early season power shearing. If you did your job properly in the fall, your shrubs shouldn’t require heavy power shearing this early. Stick with me and I will find you work.
Try this
We found some Red-Osier dogwoods (Cornus sericea) that needed attention. It’s always a good idea to take out the biggest canes so we’re left with nice slender young canes. This work requires some judgement and a good pair of loppers. You can expect to make one to four cuts maximum on each shrub. Look for the biggest cane and lop it out at ground level. It’s the fattest cane and it should be darker, not red like the young canes.
Dogwood bonuses
Red-Osier dogwood has beautiful red canes in winter so we don’t really miss its flowers or leaves. The red twigs show nicely in winter landscapes.
And, you can make cuttings with dogwoods. Inspired by an article published in Fine Gardening, I snipped off maybe ten bits from the tops. Then I took them home and planted them in the edges of my pots; there’s more water near the edges.
I left the cuttings unprotected because I’m a busy guy and then we received mid-March snow. And yet three of the cuttings still produced leaves so if everything goes well, I will have free dogwoods on my patio. See how much fun you can have in landscape horticulture!
Plant separation
Plant separation is also an excellent early season task. In this case we had a prickly Pyracantha coccinea shrub stuffed full of Heather. Oh my, it didn’t look good. So, I had to decide how to separate them. Since the Pyracantha normally lasts longer in the landscape I decided to pull out the Heather, permanently. Once I found the main stem in the prickly mess, it was a matter of making a few cuts with my snips. Don’t rush, the Pyracantha spikes are nasty.
Early season tasks
Pruning out big canes out of dogwood shrubs and plant separation are two examples of early season tasks. I think reaching for power shears on the West Coast before spring officially hits involves some risk. I prefer pruning when it’s warmer.
