Most winters in the mid-Atlantic there will be a break with unusually warm temperatures, and after a few days there is considerable consternation amongst novice gardeners as green shoots of daffodils pop through the soil and star magnolia buds begin to swell. No harm is done, and rarely is the schedule of blooming disrupted, no…
Category: gardens
Repairing snow damage – split branches
In the previous chapter I pruned large branches that were broken in the recent heavy, wet snow. Today will begin with repairing damage to evergreens, and then will address how to save branches that have split, but not broken beyond repair. Damage to evergreens was less extensive than in the heavy snows of February 2010,…
Repairing snow damaged trees
As heavy, wet snow accumulated on the thickly branched red maple at the edge of my neighbor’s property, the Y-shaped junction where the tree forked into two trunks was severely stressed. Finally, the weight of snow was too great and half of the snow covered maple tumbled over, its fall broken only by a large…
A dreary winter’s day
Today is cold and gray, with a drizzle of rain swirling about that threatens to freeze to make roadways perilous. Temperatures in the past week have strayed only a few degrees above freezing, and little of last week’s snowfall has melted. My garden is quite cold-natured as winter’s chill settles into the bottom land between foothills,…
A sad tale
On this morning of the third day following seven or eight inches of heavy, wet snow I have trudged through the garden to further survey damage, and the results are disheartening one moment, encouraging the next. My immediate impression on the morning after the storm was that injury would be more prevalent, and more significant…
Snow damage tips
At a glance, the heavy, wet snow from yesterday’s storm appears to have damaged trees and shrubs significantly, perhaps more so than the storms of last winter. In particular, there seems to be more damage to deciduous trees, those that drop their leaves for the winter. In my own garden I see numerous broken branches…
A low maintenance garden?
I suppose that I could learn to love planting, just planting, and not having to bother with the untidy chores that follow. No doubt there are gardeners who will say that they love pruning, transplanting, deadheading, dividing, mulching, and composting, and even some who find weeding to be therapeutic. I prefer to plant and forget, to…
No more plants!
On a dreary January morning a thick fog has settled over this low lying garden nestled between foothills at the western edge of Virginia’s Piedmont. Today, temperatures will be slightly above the seasonal average, with the slight cover of snow and ice melting quickly in the relative warmth. My rambles through the garden are more…
Mid-winter, and counting
Today, a dusting of snow remains over much of the garden, but by good fortune the more severe parts of winter storms have veered to the north or south. My son in Athens, Georgia reports seven inches of snow from the recent storm, but with little snow (or rain for that matter), this garden in…
Gardening in dry shade
Under the shade of tall pines camellias and hostas grow lush, unscathed even in the blazing heat of August. The soil beneath the bedding of pine needles remains moist through short periods of drought, and shallow rooted shrubs and perennials grow contentedly. Unfortunately, I have no pines in my garden, only densely rooted maples and…
Too many trees, not enough garden
At the start of the new year I’ve begun to consider plants that I can’t live without this spring, and again the list must exclude trees or large evergreens. After more than twenty years gardening this one acre plot there is little space available beyond tucking a small shrub or perennial here and there, and certainly insufficient…
It could be worse
In review of the past year in the garden there is adequate cause for complaint, with deep and persistent snow that was followed closely by prolonged and miserable heat. Injury from the winter’s snowfall remains in evidence, though a large cypress was removed in its entirety, and other evergreens with sagging branches have been discretely tied…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 