Social Distance? Spend time in your garden!
In these crazy times with the serious concern over covid19; a lot of us have found ourselves temporarily out of school, or out of work, or worse. What better time to spend in the garden!
Plan a new garden or redesign an existing one. Take time to clean up and weed beds, put down mulch and make some plantings. If you live in the south anything goes. If you are in the north refresh the soil. Perhaps plant bulbs that will bloom later in summer. Build some raised beds, or better yet build a hydroponic garden. That would certainly help with groceries in the future!
While most of my plants cannot be moved outside until May, I can do a majority of prep-work now. I am pruning away dead wood, cleaning up and making plans for this year’s gardens. One of the tasks I will work on is to prune my Crepe Myrtles.
Late winter (right now) is the best time to prune a Crepe Myrtle, because it is leafless and you can easily see all the branches. It also blooms on new growth, so pruning now won't reduce blooming. In fact, it may increase it.
Tips how to prune a Crepe Myrtle Tree. Remove branches in the following order:
1. Suckers coming up from the base.
2. All side branches growing from the main trunks up to a height of at least 4 feet.
3. All higher branches growing inward towards the center of the tree.
4. All crossing, rubbing, and dead branches.
5. Branches growing at awkward angles that detract from the tree's appearance.
Always cut back to a larger branch of the trunk. Don't leave stubs. Removing seed-heads on the end of branches is optional. Leaving them doesn't reduce blooming. I leave mine. In August, enjoy it’s beautiful blooms.
