Gardening With Tony

Arboriculture Is Horticulture Of Trees

arboriculture
UNITED STATES—Recently wintry weather is a reminder that large trees require maintenance. Otherwise, some are likely to eventually drop limbs or blow over. Even some of the most stable and structurally sound trees benefit from maintenance. Otherwise, they can become shabby, overgrown or obtrusive. Such maintenance is what constitutes the basis of arboriculture. Arboriculture is, most simply, the specialized horticulture...

Wind Is Messy And Hazardous

wind
UNITED STATES—Arborists become more popular after storms. That is when consequences of negligent tree maintenance become more apparent. Wind dislodges limbs and destabilizes whole trees. Unfortunately, the most diligent of tree maintenance cannot prevent all damage. Trees and other vegetation are naturally vulnerable to frequently stormy winter weather. Deciduous trees try to be less vulnerable to wind by defoliating prior...

Summer Bulbs Begin In Winter

summer bulbs
UNITED STATES—Spring bulbs begin to go into the garden during autumn to benefit from the chill of winter. Summer bulbs begin to go into the garden during late winter to avoid the chill of winter. Spring bulbs know to remain dormant through winter. Some summer bulbs do not. If they grow prematurely, they can be vulnerable to cool wintry...

Citrus Fruit Ripens Through Winter

citrus
UNITED STATES—Winter is bare root season, which is the best time for installation of deciduous fruit trees. It is also the best time for dormant pruning of deciduous fruit trees. Evergreen fruit trees do not get much attention. Installation and any pruning of evergreen fruit trees happens after winter. However, regardless of perceived neglect, winter is actually citrus season. Technically,...

Pollard And Coppice During Winter

pollard
UNITED STATES—This is extreme dormant pruning. Pollard and coppice pruning involve complete removal of all new growth. They typically involve growth from a previous season annually. A two-year cycle involves growth from two previous seasons, and so on. This repetitive pruning to the same origins stimulates distended callus growth there. It is as brutal as it sounds. This is why...

Dormant Pruning Exploits Winter Dormancy

dormant pruning
UNITED STATES—Bare root season begins as the year ends for a simple reason. That is when deciduous plants are dormant. They are unaware of the otherwise distressful process of relocation. This is also why winter is the season for dormant pruning. Such pruning would be very distressful at any other time of year. While dormant, deciduous plants are unaware...

Living Christmas Trees Eventually Mature

living Christmas trees
  UNITED STATES—Christmas trees are extreme cut foliage. They stand alone, rather than as accessories to cut flowers. Most are a few feet tall, and some are much grander. Ultimately though, they are as disposable as cut flowers. Because they are so expensive, their disposal seems to be wasteful. Realistically though, they are more practical than living Christmas trees. Now that...

Bareroot Season Begins With January

bareroot
UNITED STATES—Christmas trees and associated items are no imposition for nurseries. They are seasonal while not much else is appealing to a retail market. They occupy retail area that summer and autumn commodities relinquished earlier. Then, they relinquish their same space as bareroot stock becomes seasonable. The chronology is very coincidentally very efficient. Bareroot season is not actually contingent on...

Winter Bloom Might Be Limited

winter bloom
UNITED STATES—Except for flowers that bloom randomly throughout the year, most autumn bloom is done. Much of the formerly spectacular autumn foliar color succumbed to wintry rain and wind. Many colorful winter berries have already gone with migratory birds who consume them. Overwintering birds appreciate what lingers. Fortunately, some winter bloom continues. Cool season annuals likely provide most winter flowers...

Cut Foliage For Christmas Decor

cut foliage
UNITED STATES—Christmas trees are extreme cut foliage. They grow on farms like cut foliage that florists use, but are entire trees! Although most fit under household ceilings, some within public venues are famously grand. Nonetheless, they are ultimately as disposable as any other cut foliage. Eventually, after their Christmas season, they become common greenwaste. Other cut foliage is also popular...