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Pruning hollies
Fine Gardening — The kind you have and the look you want determines the cuts to make Few plants are more versatile than hollies. With their textural foliage, ornamental berries, and varied growth habit, it is easy to see why this genus is hugely popular with ...More…
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Pruning Japanese Maples
Fine Gardening — The right cuts reveal a branch pattern that looks good with leaves or without Japanese maples are elegant in all seasons, with delicate leaves, fine fall color, and the loveliest branch patterns in the world. The two most common forms of this ...More…
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Pruning Crape Myrtles
Fine Gardening — Though many people plant crape myrtles, few people prune them correctly. Correct pruning yields gracefully shaped trees with more blooms that are held upright on strong stems. And flowers arrive earlier than do those on unpruned or mispruned ...More…
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Maintenance pruning removes old flowers and dead wood
Fine Gardening — I learned to prune rhododendrons by destroying my prized rock garden. I had a 30-foot-tall pine that I needed to cut down. It missed the house by a wide margin, but it didn't miss the rock garden, which I had lovingly tended for years. When the ...More…
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Maintenance Pruning
Fine Gardening — By relying on a few timely, well-placed cuts, you can keep your deciduous trees and shrubs healthy Gardeners often spend hours pruning their trees and shrubs in order to control size and shape, but pruning can do more than dictate a plant's ...More…
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Pruning Hydrangeas
Fine Gardening — Knowing if your shrub blooms on old or new wood will help you make timely cuts I know people are confused about how to prune hydrangeas because I get asked about it all the time. The three most common reasons for their confusion are the plant's ...More…
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Pruning Wisteria
Fine Gardening — Well-placed summer and winter cuts will keep this vigorous vine manageable While searching for my first apartment in Brooklyn, I was shown a one bedroom on a quiet, tree-lined street. The apartment itself wasn't memorable, but the building was: ...More…
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Pruning Lilacs
Fine Gardening — Whether it's an ancient shrub or a vigorous young plant, all lilacs can benefit from some well-placed cuts One of the few plants that survived my garden renovation was an old, overgrown lilac. I saved it because it blocked the view of my ...More…
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Pruning Climbing Roses
Fine Gardening — Prune yearly for healthier, more manageable growth and bigger, better flowers It's best not to procrastinate when it comes to pruning climbing roses. Whether climbing roses are grown on a wall, fence, trellis, post, or pillar, I recommend pruning ...More…
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Pruning Subshrubs
Fine Gardening — Don't cut plants like lavender to the ground, and don't touch them in fall or winter My love affair with lavender and other subshrubs began with my master's thesis. I spent three years doing my best to kill lavenders and, in the process, ...More…
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Pruning Clematis
Fine Gardening — Prune these vines right after they finish blooming in spring. The new stems that grow will then have enough time to make flower buds for the following year. How much to remove when pruning depends on the vine's vigor and how large a support ...More…
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Pruning Tomatoes
Fine Gardening — How to manage your plants for better health and better fruit The intrinsic vigor and hardiness of tomatoes almost always guarantees a successful harvest. However, the rapid growth of a healthy tomato plant can also lead to problems. A tomato is a ...More…