pruning
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 21, 2022I need to remind you that now is the time to prune lilacs, weigela, mock orange, and snowball viburnums. These are all spring-blooming plants, and cutting them back now gives the new growth time to mature and develop buds for next year’s flowers. I recommend pruning to eliminate the old stems to encourage new growth from the base of the shrub. When I looked at my potato crop last week, I noticed…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMarch 08, 2022My last “Know It and Grow It” column gave you some information about how our indoor plants respond to the photoperiod or lengthening days of early spring. After being nearly dormant for four months, they are eager to start active growth. If you have a plant that is getting too tall, now is when to do a little pruning to get back to where that plant will look balanced and proportioned. Often…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMay 25, 2021If you applied systemic rose care as I advised earlier, that was six weeks ago so now is the time to make a second application. All forms of pine trees and shrubs are making their new growth now. That new growth is called a candle. For the more compact varieties of pines like Mugho and Tannenbaum, cutting off 1/2 to 3/4 of that new growth will result in a much fuller and compact plant. Completing…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMarch 09, 2021I haven’t been submitting any garden articles for the paper for a year because I thought I had all of you educated enough so I could retire. Someone recently reminded me that we are humans and we forget … “so what’s wrong with refreshing our memories?” Well, that’s not a hard task for me, so here goes. … We have survived winter, and if there is one good thing about extreme cold (other than higher…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistOctober 15, 2019Our 2019 garden season is pretty much finished, and now as we contemplate cleaning up perennial flowerbeds and the landscape, we have to decide what to cut and what not to cut. I am not a fan of clear-cutting the perennial garden in the fall. Plants that hold their form add interest to the winter landscape. Additionally, those stems catch snow, which helps insulate the crown of the plant,…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistApril 09, 2019A couple of perfect spring days have convinced me that we are on the backside of winter so here I am again, telling you to get to work outside to keep your landscape looking great. The one plant that is first on the list to get cut back is Karl Forster grass. This is a cool season grass that starts growing really early in spring. You will already see several inches of new green grass blades…
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