Is It Spring Yet?

The weather is warming up, snow is melting and gardeners are itching to get out in their yards. My caution: wait to clean out gardens and install new plants until after the danger of frost has passed. In our region of NH that is mid May, not on the first day it hits 60. Resist the urge, even when you start seeing other homeowners and landscapers out there, your plants and beneficial insects will thank you.

(Find your hardiness zone, average last frost date and other local climate information by typing your zip code in on this site: http://www.plantmaps.com/)

It takes the soil a while to warm up in the spring and new plants put in cold ground just hunker down. You’ll do them a favor by waiting until the soil warms to install them. The same waiting strategy is needed before your spring clean up. If you clean out the winter mulch and debris insulating your garden beds too early and we get a late frost you’ll ‘burn’ the new growth on perennials just starting to come up. They’ll survive but I’d rather they thrive.

Once the snow melts occupy yourself by turning the compost pile, completing winter tasks you put off like cleaning and repairing tools, planning and preparing new beds for fall planting, and enjoying the crocus’, daffodils, and lilacs as they bloom.

Speaking of daffodils, you all know not to remove the foliage of spring blooming bulbs until it dies back naturally, right? The leaves, as long as they are green, are storing energy for next years bulbs, don’t cut or mow them too early or you’ll be sacrificing future blooms.

"April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain." --T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land"

Happy Gardening,

Patty Laughlin, NHCLP, AOLCP

Owner/Head Gardener

Lorax Landscaping

Epping, NH

Riding Lessons at Beniah Lane Farm

Did you know that animals like dogs, cats, horses, guinea pigs, dolphins and even llamas have therapeutic effects on people? Even the Center for Disease Control acknowledges the health benefits of pet ownership. You can get the benefits of animal relationships even without having them in your own home. Try a riding lesson at Beniah Lane Farm to get some winter exercise, reduce blood pressure and increase your triglyceride levels! We focus on the sport of eventing but have students of all levels and abilities. Check us out! www.beniahlanefarm.com

Beniah Lane Farm in Winter

The Yoga of Intention

We usually begin each yoga class by setting an intention once we have centered ourselves and arrived on our mats. Have you ever wondered why?

By definition, the Random House Dictionary says intention is: “ the act of determining upon some action. The end or object intended. An aim, goal, or purpose.” Yoga itself means to “yoke” or join. We join our movement with breath; we join our physical body with our energy body; we yoke effort with ease, strength with flexibility; we move slowly toward a more peaceful place.

When we begin a class with an intention, it is a way of bringing deeper union between the movements of our physical body and our subtle energy body (our heart, our spirit). In other words, what else is happening when we balance on one leg? If we “intend” this practice in honor of another person, or for finding clarity in our own spirit, the tree pose becomes much more than balance.  By setting an intention, you make it clear to yourself & others what you plan to do. Some examples of intentions are:

*to learn something new
*to feel productive
*to be aware of the breath throughout class
*to release the events of the day
*to be present in a new & different way

Awakening Grace Yoga Studio is collectively (many of us at once) setting an intention of service & support for the Relay for Life “Team Believe.” Join us for a charity class by donation on Saturday March 9th from 2-3:30pm. Together, our intentions create change.

Molly Schlangen

www.awakeninggraceyoga.com

To Prune or Not to Prune, that is the question.

To prune properly you need to know the 5 W’s and H of pruning: why, when, what, where, who and how.

Pruning is essentially plant surgery and stresses a plant. Understanding the W’s and H go a long way toward insuring that you do as little harm as possible and that the plant will thrive under your care.

Why

Before you prune a shrub or tree make sure you understand the reason to prune. Are you trying to remove dead, diseased or dying plant parts, improve the appearance or health of the plant, influence fruiting or flowering, rejuvenate an old plant, train a young plant, improve safety or control plant size?

When

The time you prune has a major impact on results and is determined by what you’re pruning and why. Dead, diseased and damaged plant parts can be removed anytime. The best time to prune most woody plants is in the late winter, just before they break dormancy (just before sugaring season). This ensures that their ‘wounds’ will heal quickly as the growing season starts. But, be careful, spring flowering shrubs, like lilacs or forsythia, should be pruned right after they bloom or you’ll sacrifice spring flowers.

What

What are you pruning?

Pruning techniques vary with what you’re trying to accomplish and what type of plant you’re pruning. Is the plant deciduous or evergreen, needle leaved or broadleaf, spring or summer flowering, fast or slow growing? What is the plants natural growth shape or pattern? Some individual plant species are more susceptible to diseases that can be transferred during pruning. Knowing which ones they are and properly timing your pruning can limit exposure. Some plants can handle heavy pruning and recover quickly while others can be killed by cuts that are too severe.

What to remove?

• the three D’s: dead, diseased, and damaged
• rubbing or crossing branches
• watersprouts (vertical shoots from branches)
• suckers (shoots from the base of the tree or shrub)
• extraneous growth

Where & How

You know why, when and what you’re pruning so where do you make the cuts and how do you make them?

DO

• use pruners, loppers, and pruning saws
• ensure your tools are clean and sharp
• make cuts directly above, ~1/4 inch, a side branch or bud

DON’T

• leave stubs, ragged edges, or bruised bark
• use hedge trimmers (unless you’re pruning a hedge)
• remove more than 1/3 of the plant in any one season

Who

You! Do some reading, go to a demonstration, take a class or find a coach. Pruning isn’t difficult once you know the basics. If you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, or if there’s a chance your feet would need to leave the ground, hire a professional. Look for someone who has documented training in pruning, is a Certified Landscape Professional or is a Certified Arborist.

The UNH Cooperative extension website has several good handouts on pruning specifics (http://extension.unh.edu/resources/tag/pruning).

Happy Gardening,

Patty Laughlin, NHCLP, AOLCP

Owner/Head Gardener

Lorax Landscaping

Epping, NH

What Can You Do for Your Garden in February?

Mid winter is a great time to review or draft your garden plans and to order the seeds and plants you’ll need to make them a reality. Consider what worked well for you last year and what didn’t. Browse catalogs and websites, attend garden and home shows for ideas, but make sure the ideas are appropriate for our area and your specific site conditions. If you don’t know where to start, or are overwhelmed by the seemingly daunting task, consider hiring a professional. It is worth the money in saved frustrations and headaches alone.

Check your stores of supplies: containers, potting soil, mulch, markers, insect barriers, frost blankets, etc. and replenish as needed.

If you stored tubers, roots or corms, check them for soft spots or mold and compost those showing damage.

If you start your own seedlings take some time to disinfect containers, inspect heat mats, replace grow lights as needed and set up your planting schedule based on your last average frost date. If you start your vegetables from seedlings set up your transplant schedule, also based on your last average frost date. Look for seeds and plants that are grown organically and/or locally for the best ecological results.

If you’d like a taste of spring a bit early, cut budded branches from fruit trees and spring blooming shrubs like pussy willow and forsythia and bring them inside. Place your cuttings in a vase with water and enjoy the flowers a just a few weeks. For more detailed instructions see the UNH Cooperative Extension document: http://extension.unh.edu/FHGEC/docs/sprngblb.htm

Some of my favorite resources for the above tasks:

Fine Gardening http://www.finegardening.com/

Organic Gardening http://www.organicgardening.com/

Mother Earth News http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Gardener’s Supply Company http://www.gardeners.com/

Johnny’s Selected Seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Fedco Co-op Garden Supplies http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

New Roots Farm (vegetable seedlings) http://www.newrootsfarm.com/

Happy Gardening,

Patty Laughlin, NHCLP, AOLCP

Owner/Head Gardener

Lorax Landscaping

Epping, NH

Start your engines! Or your metabolism.

How do I get my metabolism going and keep it going?  EAT! Yes, I said EAT.

I hear it all of the time, Slow metabolisms run in my family, I’m going through menopause, I have Thyroid issues, well guess what, so do I! And there is a solution; it’s called clean eating and being 100% responsible for your choices.

Did you know that if you go longer than 3 hours without eating your metabolism SLOWS?

Where do I start you ask? It all starts by eating within one hour of waking up. Get that metabolism started right away. Then eat every 2-3 hours thereafter until you have eaten five to six times that day.

What should I eat you ask? It’s important that you consume a minimum of 20 grams (4-6oz.) of clean protein at each meal. Organic Chicken, Turkey, Grass Fed Beef, Farm Fresh Egg Whites, Ocean Caught Fish, Pastured Pork Loin to name a few. The bigger the person, the more protein is needed.

Each day when I awake I know I have one more day to make a difference in someone's life.

~ James Mann

Pearla Phillips

Owner, Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer, and Nutritionist

Fit Body Transformations

154 Martin Road, Fremont, NH 

603-583-9744

Pruning A Juniper Hedge

A friend asked me recently about pruning a juniper hedge I thought the exchange would be helpful to a wider audience, so our exchange is below:

Question:
I just bought a house that has a 40 foot long Juniper hedge along the driveway. It's healthy and has been trimmed regularly, but it's a 5' by 5' rectangular box. I'd like to trim it back at least a foot on the north side, where it's overgrown the driveway, and shape it so that it's more triangular... wider at the base, narrower at the top… When is the best time to trim them back? Can I do it this winter? How much can I safely trim back? Should I do the butchery myself, or hire a professional that knows what they're doing?

Response:
The short answer is that junipers aren't trivial to prune. But finding a professional who ‘knows what they’re doing’ isn’t trivial either

I’ll assume that you’re plant ID is accurate and I’ll do my best to give you a longer more constructive answer. There are entire books written to answer a question like this so I’ll only hit a few of the high points.

A hedge narrower at the top than at the bottom is actually healthier for the plant since it allows sunlight to reach all the leaf surfaces. But, make it more of a trapezoid than a triangle, flat or rounded on top. Or better, yet a shape nature intended.
Regular trimming is essential for a juniper because it doesn’t produce much new growth from old wood – this does make it difficult to cut back severely.

For a healthy shrub that responds well to pruning (not a juniper) the guideline is to never take more than 1/3 of the wood off in any one season. So I wouldn’t recommend cutting it back to 1 foot. You’ll need to do it gradually over many seasons. Also, you need to be prepared for it to look really ugly until it starts to recover and if it doesn’t recover be prepared to replace it.

The best way to prune a juniper is to grab the tip of a branch that is too long and follow it back to a connection to a larger branch or all the way to the base of the plant and cut it off there. This will give you a much more natural look and is healthier for the plant. I NEVER prune with hedge trimmers – use pruners or loppers. The best time to prune is in late winter – mid-Marchish, just before sugaring season, depending on the weather.

If you do decide to hire this out look for someone who is a Certified Landscape Professional (http://www.nhlaonline.org/certification/certified-professionals.cfm, http://www.melna.org/professional.html), they have demonstrated knowledge in many horticultural practices, including pruning. You could also look for a licensed arborist.
I hope that helps.

Happy Gardening,

Patty Laughlin, NHCLP, AOLCP

Owner/Head Gardener

Lorax Landscaping

Epping, NH