Pruning .......for health and growth ......

I love to climb trees ......I have all my life ......Late fall or early spring is a wonderful time to climb into the branches and assit the trees with shape and form and fruiting .........but mostly for growth and health! .

     If you pruned last spring .....the shoots may be towering into the clouds .........as a sun filled season this year let the trees put on a lot of growth !   If you have any doubt ......just Look at all the leaves on the ground ....we are on my 5th leaf clean up in my own yard !...!

      Pruning ,for me , is a wonderful analogy for life ....the work you do now ..in the dormant/not growing  times ..shapes the future .......what do you want it to look like ?   The well placed prunes now .....or early spring will decide what  shape and size the tree will grow into next season .   It will decide it's bloom ......and it's growth and health .

       Pruned well .......trees and shrubs will weather the storms .....and last til old age .

    I have been called "Miss Beruit" ......that was not a compliment .......it was a nickname given to me by a disgusted homeowner looking at a tree that I was forced to hard prune . With no apology ...My only answer  to him was 'Trust me " .

     I have used that story over and over ........to help other clients with the shock of what I do to their trees !

      Trust me I say .......it will be beautiful next year ........

       They always are .

      I hate to see a tree sheered like a sheep ...it will temporarily look good .......but in the long run it destroys the tree .........it creates a ton of new growth all at the top of the branches and is exactly the wrong thing to do to most trees and shrubs .

       How many of us do that to our lives?   Make it look good for a short time ......or do what we can to make our lives look good from the outside?   Focus on looking good to all the people looking in ......while gradually the growth and energy that sustains us ........goes to all the wrong places .

    I always prune a tree for health first .........it does not alway look good initially .........and if it has been pruned wrong for a long time .......often it looks down right ugly .........it is more like cutting out cancer than a prune .

    In the end ........the tree grows again ..........the way it was intended to grow .......healthy .

    This is not to say that things can't be pruned to unusal shapes ......bonsai and hedging are all very doable ..as are topiary and espalier ...all my passions .......but they require constant attention .......they  are not the natural  shape or growth of the plants ....... and require knowing exactly how far you can push the plants .

     There is a fellow that says .....of hedging and topiary ...this man began as a hobbiest and now has a botanical garden ..........if you have to rake the clippings .....you have waited too long to prune ..........I agree.

      That due diligenece is just more than most people want to do .......it requires 5 hard prunes a year and someone weekly clipping away the surge growth ......

       Its a ton of energy placed into making things shaped unaturally ......and left without care for just weeks during the high growth seasons ...the plants will return to their natural shape and size .

      So think about life ..........what are you putting that much energy into doing that is just for show or to create a false shape ? .. What is your natural state in comparison ? ..

..I liken it to wearing makeup ........sometimes less is more ....!  Most woman can toss 90% of the make up and 'beauty' products they own .......and still be just as ........if not more beautiful !    Toss that stuff .......Do a hard prune !
 
        Cutting out the "dead wood " ..the crossing branches ......the poor growth ......all comes first .  

        I love to cut crossing branches .....For me they are a perfect analogy  for life and a wonderful constant reminder to me . .
I think the question to myself each time I cut them away from a plant .... "what are the crossing branches I need to prune from my life .?"
.....Funny thing is ......until you climb into a tree to prune it ....you do not even see crossing branches ......in fact if a tree has just been sheered it's whole life ....often a crossed branch becomes part of the canapy .all the while the tree keeps damaging itself each time the tree moves . How many of the worst wounds in our lives are unseen and self inflicted ?
 ....Crossing branches rub against each other and create sores in the bark of both branches ....every time the wind blows .......or the weather is strong ...litterally...."they rub the wrong way " creating more and more damage .
     On a rare sunny still day ....when there is no wind and no weather ....they are unseen and do little damage . But they are there .......each wind gust ......each storm ...to work away at the health of the tree .
     Like a badly fitting pair of shoes that makes your feet hurt ...They may look good , even great .and.....if you are not walking ......they hurt less . But the pain and potential damage to your toes and feet ......is just a step away .  
   So try this In the personal pruning of your life  ......along with the 90% of the beauty products not needed .......a great idea is ...tossing all those shoes that hurt ....or don't quite fit .....!!!..........

        So ? ......They say the best fertilizer is a gardener's shadow ...........

        When it comes to pruning ........this is definately so .......

          A great and healthy pruned yard .........needs a regular look ..a snip here a tuck there ....
....at least once a month .....and better every two weeks in the growing season .

        " More"and often  is better .....it prevents a small problem ......from becoming a large one ........one that could be the potential for a loss of a plant !

          Ignoring it ..knowing it needs a prune but just not getting to it .....not having the time .....or being too busy to check in with the plants in your yard .....or the things in your life ..........and things litterally "grow out of control" ....

          My favorite garden moment on the big properties ...is when I have everything growing and pruned so well .....a clients think they no longer need me ......it has happened several times .......They usually ask me to come less often ..........to which I ALWAYS reply ...."thank you"....As it is the best compliment they can give me .......to say it looks like  I am not there or that they do not need me .......Then I have done my job well .
    It is my opinion and my goalas a gardener ...that A garden should not get overgrown and then be hard pruned and then overgrown again ..........it should be constanly cared for .....perfectly maintained .........and look "as if " I was not there .
    Like raising a teenager .....great gardening is about being there , mostly behind the scenes  ...the food in the fridge , the wash done , bills paid so there is a home to come back to when they are ready ........teens need you less up front and face time  than an infant ......but when they do need the face time  ...it's usually in a big big way !! .And often a tow truck is involved!!

        If a client is really persisitant about believing their "yard is taking care of itself ".......I usually leave for a few weeks  .
 
        As a rule ........unless they are retired and doing daily gardening  themselves or have hired another gardener .........They are always happy to see me when I return .......as in just a few weeks it is obvious to them what I do .......
    The weeds have taken over and the surge growth is wild ...nothing has been deadheaded ..or cut back when it was needed ...and....tiny washouts have become ruts ... gardens  like most teens I know .......do not take care of themselves !

         The fact is .........gardens need constant care ....moreso for bigger gardens ...if I have perpetual bloom established ..the things passing need to be cut back so the new blooms can show off .....

    Gardening  is like brushing your teeth .........you can skip it now and then .............but skip it often enough ........and you will have problems !
    
            And for me ........I have learn in your life and with your treesand gardens  ...it is better to take the time to be a good steward ........check in often .........and when needed ......to "prune hard for health and future growth!"

         Who would have guessed I'd have so much fun at work .....I get to climb trees for a living now !