Pruning a Blue Spruce

By Sue Hughes, Gresham Japanese Garden Pruner My assignment from Jim Card was to prune this Picea pungens glauca, blue spruce into pads. I've been reading a lot about the right and wrong way to prune a conifer into pads, but I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle...

What to do with your scorched plants?

Pines In the case of your pine shrubs, as you can see by this one that faces the southwest, it's extremely scorched. This top layer of burnt needles is still protecting the branches underneath and they are not dead branches. You can check for dead branches by scraping...

Watering Plants During a Heatwave

Watering Your Plants During a Heatwave Watering is tricky during a heat wave – or more specifically, getting the water into the plant. This largely depends on the ability of your soil to hold water. Clay, loamy, or sandy soils will all perform differently. Soil must...

A Lesson on Pine Trees

A Lesson on Pines As a pine tree ages, interior and low branches die off from lack of light and energy. To keep a pine tree healthy, spring candling, winter needling, and cutting out branches to retain its shape are necessary. Before pruning, you first study the...

Sakura in Japanese Culture

Sakura in Japanese Culture By Mary DicksonThey blossom, and thenWe gaze, and then the bloomsScatter, and then…(Onitsura, poet) Beyond the beauty of sakura, the national flower of Japan, lies deep symbolism for the nation and its people.One of my Japanese friends said,...

Introduction to Ikebana