Prune, Cutback, Deadhead and Clean Up

SPRING CLEANING

One of the beauties from our collection of iris.

Great weather today for getting out in the yard - 75-degrees F with a light breeze.

There are many tasks to take care of already that require loppers and pruners. I love the Fiskars pruners with the rolling handle. An entire day of cleaning out beds, cutting out shrubs and young trees, trimming daffodil and iris plants and my hands do not hurt. (What Americans call pruners, the British call secateurs - I'm reading a British gardening book)

"Down to Earth" by Helen Dillon.

Now that the weather has cleared, I'm planting 20-plants a day as a goal. Of course weeding and soil amending is being done in order to give my babies a chance to thrive. I still have about a 50 percent thrive rate. The other half are eaten by bugs and bunnies, fail altogether or just never make the grade.

This is a good time to make the first cut on your chrysanthemums. Begin pruning them back now so they will bloom on full, well-branched stems in the fall. The last cut will be at the end of June.

What's happening where you garden?