When we first moved into our “new” home (it was new then) over 20 years ago, it was obvious that something needed to be done about the “back forty”!  Not only was the area free of any desirable vegetation, but with the only single-story house in the area, we were living in a goldfish bowl!!  We couldn’t see into the neighbors’ homes, but they could sure peer into ours.  This was brought to my attention when in the family room – I felt as though someone or something was staring at me.  After going through a list of no-no’s not to do in public, I finally went to the large window and looked around – there she was, a small girl of 7 or 8 staring through HER window and into my house; she was watching me!

That was the beginning of the Betsy “hurry-up-and-plant-things around the fences “plan.  A lot of thought went into was going to be planted and, of course, what wasn’t allowed on the property.  Among the selections were fast growing shrubs such as oleander (Nerium oleander), pomegranate (Punica granatum), various climbing roses, as well as wax privets (Ligustrum japonicum), acceptable landscape plants that were easily found, easily planted, and easily grown.  Now the years have past and the little girl was replaced by a teenager who didn’t care what was going on in nearby homes!  This is the year that the “jungle without” is going to be tamed.

The wax privets have been pruned to multi-stem standards whose canopies just graze the fence tops on the South side of the house.  The original pomegranate still is only giving small fruits which split as they ripen; the newer pomegranates are bending with 6-8 inch diameter fruits which are bright and cheery during this season of brown and yellowing leaves.  The oleanders are providing shelter for the multitude of birds which stay in the yard for up to weeks at a time and then head South or where ever to join up with more of their kind.  The hawthorn tree (Crataegus cordata) is full of berries, waiting for the birds to come and eat away.  The weeds are popping up to thwart my best laid plans to have fewer grass weeds next spring and all in all peace is in the garden!

Back to my original query, anyone out there available to hack a path with me back to those luscious pomegranates?  The only way to locate my little dog back there is to watch for the violently waving stems and stalks.

A little more pruning, thinning, and plant removal, and I will have the yard of my dreams (I think!).

The winds of late spring are an uncomfortable reality in Solano County. They blew through on June 8 and 9, blustery, drying north winds that disrupted graduation ceremonies, outdoor weddings and picnics at the park.  Broken tree branches and piles of leaves and twigs, pushed up against north-facing fences and gutters, were evidence of the onslaught.

A realist would shrug off the loss of large branches as Mother Nature’s rather brutal pruning plan. Sometimes that’s a hard pill to swallow. A friend of ours lost the top third of a redwood tree planted in his front-yard lawn. When I heard this, I immediately thought of another friend who had recently told me about losing the top portion of a redwood tree on her property. Turns out, that loss was due to lack of water, but both of my friends now face a tricky situation: What do you do with a fast-growing evergreen that loses its terminal bud leader?

Redwoods that have been topped — whether by nature or humans — tend to freak out, sprouting from masses of dormant buds just below the topping cut and under the bark. This results in an extremely fast-growing tangled mess of unstable branches where once there was one tidy and elegant trunk. These masses are weak and tend to peel away in strong winds (which we know will return in late spring).

What my friends now face is quite possibly annual pruning of those redwoods. They must be prepared to maintain the sprouts and trim any large branches regularly. And they should consult with a certified arborist to do this work.

Redwood trees are considered to be wind-resistant trees. It appears my friend’s front-yard tree, though robust and healthy in appearance, faced prior stress and had become weakened somewhere along the way. Leave it to the winds of late spring to test that stress. Maybe it’s Mother Nature’s pruning plan after all.

I’m embarrassed to reveal that if you visited my backyard, you may actually think, ”She’s a Master Gardener?”  At least that’s how I’ve been feeling, as I look at my Buddleia, more commonly known as the Butterfly Bush.  I see broken and weak branches, combined with very straggly, and unshapely growth. The good news is with just a bit of attention, I can turn this unsightly bush into a healthy, shapely, and attractive plant in my yard.  A couple minutes of pruning will guarantee you a beautiful mid-summer show of small, fragrant flowers, shaped in an arching form.  So here’s what to do…grab your pruners and begin the process called heading back.  You’re basically cutting the plant to a couple of inches off the ground, which ultimately results in dense new growth.  This early pruning helps you look at the framework of your bush without much foliage to distract you.   Due to our crazy weather, it’s possible you may already have some spring growth.  Not too worry, pruning to about 6 inches above the ground won’t hurt your plant and helps reduce the overall size of your bush, with the added benefit of increasing summer bloom.  I’ll finish by saying that if you have a spot in your yard for a Buddleia, you won’t be disappointed.  Not only does it truly attract butterflies, but it is also a low maintenance, fast-growing bush that thrives in our zone.

It's been so nice to be out in the garden. Buds are starting to swell on some shrubs, weeds are growing like gangbusters.  I'm so ready for spring; I just want to clean everything up and plant away.  But this time of year I have to stop myself from doing one particular garden chore.  Some of my plants are looking a little, okay a lot, bedraggled because of frost damage.  I could make them look so much better with just a few snips here and there. 

For example, here is my avocado Persea americana.  I started it from seed. It lives out on my back patio just under a patio cover. On nights I anticipate frost, I cover it with a sheet along with my dwarf citrus that also live on the patio.  It's not looking very happy right about now.  I think most of this is frost damage, but some might also be damage from the weight of the sheet on the little tree.  I'm itching to cut all that brown damage off.  However in Solano County on average, our last frost date is March 15th.  We may get a few more frosts, yet.  Those ugly damaged parts are protecting leaves and stem lower on the plant.  If I cut the damaged parts off now that will just expose more of the plant to any remaining frosts.  So for right now, I just need to... step away... from the pruners.