Priscilla’s To-Do List for May Edit: Divide or transplant overgrown perennials, especially running types like bee balm and rudbeckia that tend to merge with neighboring plants Pinch back tall sprawlers such as Anise hyssop and Aster to control height Put stakes and string or hoops in place early for peonies Prune roses, clematis and hydrangeas Prune…
It’s easy to cut a few branches from your flowering trees and shrubs at this time of year and to bring them indoors for forcing. They’ve already had the requisite six weeks of freezing temperatures and are raring to go. Here are some of my favorites: Forsythia…
The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is warning consumers to check houseplants purchased this winter for a new pest called Spotted Lanternfly. Evidently, a single dead pest was found in a home near Boston and reported to officials. Experts believe the pest may have arrived on a shipment of poinsettia plants that arrived from Pennsylvania. Spotted…
The Korean Spice Viburnum shrub sports some of the most fragrant flowers of spring. Typically its pinkish-white blooms appear just before the leaves, perfuming the air with the most wonderful aroma! From a distance, the blossoms look like snowballs, hence its nickname of “snowball viburnum.” This shrub is very easy care, but unfortunately, it is…
It will soon be time for the first Spot Spraying of the year. In an organic program, proper timing is everything! We will be spraying horticultural oil on Korean Spice Viburnum, Viburnum carlesii, as soon as the leaves begin to unfurl. This prevents snowball aphids from damaging the leaves. See the photo below for an…
The answer to this question changes from year to year. In general, we wait until the threat of snow is over. Levels of snow differ widely in our service area and depend greatly on the amount of shade and the altitude. We like to see the snow mostly gone from your yard and a good…
Shear ornamental grasses and root prune or divide if they have grown too big for their space Continue dormant pruning of fruit trees, deciduous shrubs, inkberry, holly, and any overgrown shrub you want to contain Prune honeysuckle vines hard as they bloom on new wood Reduce girth of yew, privet and arborvitae now as a…
Al just announced that he will be leaving us at the end of March after nine years with Pumpkin Brook. Starting as a crew member in 2010, he was a fast learner who became Plant Health Care Technician in 2013 and then Manager of the department in 2017. He has taken another position in the green…
We are available this winter to help you with your garden design and renovation needs. No need to wait until April. We like to plan ahead and get the design and planning stages finished before the snow melts. Then you can be among the first on our list for a spring project installation. Contact us…
Following up on last month’s article about creating a winter garden for birds, a friend forwarded me an article about the link between the northward spread of red birds (namely, robins and cardinals) who dine on red berries. Evidently, the red berries help keep the red pigment in feathers for these birds. When growing up,…