MÉLANIe'S GARDENS

About names, plant strategies and the benefits of rain.

It’s the third day of wildfire smoke from the northern Ontario fires. The air quality isn’t good, and it’s currently not recommended to spend much time outdoors.

I still found myself thinking about weeding.

Not necessarily today. If we’re lucky, perhaps it’ll rain over the weekend. Rain makes pulling weeds much easier. Moist soil releases roots more readily, and many weeds come out with far less effort than they do after a stretch of dry weather.

Besides, weeding is one of those jobs that’s always waiting. It doesn’t really belong to a single week or even a single season. Every garden has weeds, and every gardener eventually develops their own relationship with them.

I enjoy weeding for many reasons.

One of them is that it lets me touch the entire garden. When I’m weeding, I end up in every corner, noticing details that I would never see by simply walking through. It slows gardening down to every square foot.

I also enjoy it because having an afternoon to weed usually means the other seasonal jobs are either finished or postponed because of the weather. If it’s especially hot, I can work in the shade. If it’s raining lightly, I can put on a raincoat, grab a bucket, and continue. It becomes a quiet task, one you can do alone, or alongside someone else while carrying on a small conversation.

Weeding asks for attention, but not urgency.

Over time I’ve also come to see that weeds tell you something about a garden. Different gardens produce different weeds. Soil, moisture, sunlight, disturbance, and even neighbourhood all influence what appears. Learning your weeds is another way of learning your garden.

That naturally raises another question.

What is a weed?

The word itself carries a negative meaning, but that meaning is largely a human one. A weed is not a particular kind of plant. It is a judgment.

To me, a weed is simply a plant that is not wanted in a particular spot.

That makes weeds entirely dependent on the gardener.

The same plant can be a weed in one place and welcome in another.

If a lavender seeds itself into an empty sunny bed where I wanted another lavender anyway, I consider it a volunteer. It arrived on its own, but I am happy to keep it.

If that same seedling appears in the middle of a carefully spaced geometric planting where there is no room for another plant, then it has become a weed.

The plant hasn’t changed.

The location has.

Sometimes I transplant that volunteer elsewhere. Sometimes, if there are twenty of them and nowhere to put them, they go into the compost. We often first ask, “What plant is this?”

When weeding however, the first question often is, “Do I want this plant here?”

There are, however, plants that are genuinely weedy.

To me, those are plants whose growth strategy is so aggressive that they begin overwhelming everything around them. Some spread rapidly by seed. Others spread by rhizomes, making them difficult to remove completely.

Phragmites and Japanese knotweed are good examples. Their extensive root systems allow them to spread quickly while displacing nearly everything else growing nearby. If you’ve driven along Ontario highways, you’ve probably seen large stands of tall bluish grass with feathery plumes towering above everything around them. That is often non-native phragmites. Notice that very little else grows within those patches.

Other weeds, like creeping bellflower, may not be nearly as tall, but they spread readily and return from even small pieces of root left behind.

On the other hand, not every weed is difficult. Some self seed freely but pull out with almost no effort. They create regular work, but they don’t wage a long term battle against the gardener.

Even weeds have different strategies.

Some appear only during certain parts of the season. Right now, for example, we’re in the middle of crabgrass season. A month ago there was almost none to be found.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I enjoy weeding so much.

It isn’t simply removing unwanted plants.

It’s a quiet process of observation and selection.

Looking at everything growing in the garden, one plant at a time, and deciding what stays.

About different tools for different outcomes, heat waves, and how to add some silence into your gardening.

This past weekend in Grimsby, the catalpas have been in bloom. In the long series of spring flowers, trees may be the most majestic, and at the end of the spring season, after the lilacs, the horse chestnuts, and the maples have all bloomed, the catalpas are always a spectacular surprise.

It’s also been a few weeks of mixed weather. Last week we had lower temperatures alongside very heavy showers. This week we’re in a heat wave, some of the hottest temperatures of the year so far.

Because of that, this exploration of hedge trimming is a preemptive one. While the heat wave is ongoing, it’s a stressful time for both humans and plants, especially for gardeners who enjoy spending time outside. The actual hedge trimming can wait until the heat breaks.

The way I approach heat waves while gardening is twofold.

First, I take care of myself. I mostly work in the shade when possible, choose the cooler parts of the day, drink plenty of water, and pay attention to symptoms such as confusion, dizziness, or even just general lack of energy. It’s okay to work a little slower and be more intentional with the work you do if you absolutely have to be outside.

The other consideration is for the gardens. During a heat wave, it’s best to avoid things that stress plants, such as significant pruning or hedge trimming. Those can wait for cooler weather. I often prefer smaller tasks, such as weeding, especially in shaded areas. It’s a good time to step back and simply observe the garden.

Hot days call for stillness.

It’s also the time of year when many hedge shrubs have just flushed out their new growth. For some shrubs, such as the flowering shrubs discussed in the previous pruning post, all the blooms are finished and they’re ready for pruning. For others, such as boxwoods and yews, the new growth has flushed out and they’re approaching the right time for their seasonal trim.

Just like flowering shrubs, timing your cut is important.

Take the yew as an example. Their new growth is very obvious. The old growth is a lush dark forest green, while the new growth is a bright lime green. If you touch it, you’ll notice that the new growth is softer than the older needles, and if you look closely at the tips you may even find needles that are still developing.

If you trim your yew too early, it still has the energy to produce more growth, which often means another trim later in the season. If you wait until the lime green growth has fully flushed out and begins to darken, that usually indicates the shrub has finished growing for the year. One trim is often enough.

Other shrubs have similar signals. Boxwoods also produce lighter, softer new growth. Privets, which usually need more than one trim each season, simply begin looking scraggly. Since they bloom around this time, you can either trim them now and sacrifice some flowers, or enjoy the blooms first and give them a tighter trim afterwards. Sometimes I’ll trim only up to the blooms, then remove the final inch or two once flowering has finished.

Once you’ve decided that the timing is right, have a look at the weather.

If it’s been raining, it may be worth waiting until the foliage dries. Wet foliage can encourage rust on tools, and the cuts may not be quite as clean. If you’re coming out of a heat wave, giving your shrubs a deep watering the evening before trimming helps them recover from the stress and increases their resilience before a significant haircut.

When you’re trimming a hedge, like with any other gardening task, the tool shapes the outcome. Choosing the right tool is as important as the trimming itself.

The hedge trimmer

The most obvious tool for hedge trimming is, of course, the hedge trimmer.

The best hedge trimmer is the one you have.

Whether yours is battery powered, corded, or gas powered, take what you have and have a look at it. I personally use a medium-sized battery-powered hedge trimmer. I previously used a corded one and found the extension cord made the work slower and required constant attention to avoid cutting through it. I generally don’t use gas-powered tools, especially in residential gardens. A battery-powered hedge trimmer is more than sufficient, and I find hedge trimmers use surprisingly little battery compared to tools such as blowers.

Before starting, I like to oil the blades and briefly run the trimmer. If the blades move smoothly without squeaking or binding, the tool is ready. The smoother the tool, the cleaner the cut.

A hedge trimmer works exactly where you place it. Lay the blade flat against the surface you want to trim and move steadily along it.

If I’m trimming a rectangular yew hedge, I usually do the sides first and then the top. There’s no right or wrong order. I simply find that trimming the sides first gives me a clearer picture of the final height before I trim the top.

On the sides, you can work from the bottom up, from the top down, or even side to side. Each has a slightly different effect. Bottom to top gives a lighter skim and is less likely to snag branches. Top to bottom pushes against the natural direction of growth and reaches a little deeper into the hedge. Side to side often falls somewhere in between.

I often use all three during the same hedge. A light pass from the bottom up, another from the top down where needed, and finally a side-to-side pass to even everything out.

There’s no one right way. It’s all situation dependent.

When trimming the top, I place the blade at the final height I want and work from left to right or right to left. On larger hedges such as privets, the clippings quickly accumulate on top, so I often stop, clear them away, and make a second pass in the opposite direction. The branches move while you’re trimming, and a second pass usually catches the growth that escaped the first.

One small adjustment I’ve found useful is the angle of the blade. Keeping it perfectly flat gives you a good enough cut. If you angle the blade slightly, perhaps ten degrees, towards the direction you’re moving, the teeth of the hedge trimmer naturally pick up the new growth a little more easily, almost as if you’re combing the hedge. The important part is that your movement remains parallel to the hedge. The blade is angled slightly, but your path is still straight.

Hand shears

Even though hedge trimmers are the obvious choice, they’re far from the only one.

I often use hand shears. They’re lighter, quieter, and give me a different kind of control. I especially like them for smaller shrubs, such as individual dwarf Korean lilacs, boxwood balls, or cedar topiary.

When you’re using shears, every cut gathers only a small amount of growth. It takes a little longer to develop a smooth finish, but once you become comfortable with them they offer remarkable precision.

One advantage of shears is that changing the way you hold them changes the angle of the blades. Held one way they’re better suited to shorter shrubs. Turn them over and they become much easier to use on taller, rounded forms.

If you’re new to using shears, think of them as a very large pair of scissors.

When shaping a globe, I usually begin by creating a small flat area on the very top. That establishes the final height. From there, I follow one continuous curve from the top all the way to the bottom. I repeat the same curve on the opposite side, creating a band around the shrub. Then I repeat the process at ninety degrees to the first. Once those four curves are established, the remaining sections naturally fall into place.

If you have a small shrub, I highly recommend trying shears at least once.

For me, one of their biggest advantages is actually the silence. If I’m working in a quiet garden or on a quiet Sunday afternoon, there may be no reason to start the hedge trimmer. I can work with shears, listen to a podcast without noise-cancelling headphones, and still hear what’s going on around me.

It’s a good tool for silent gardening.

Hand pruners

Both hedge trimmers and shears are efficient tools. The trade-off is that they create a very small amount of damage as leaves are sliced through. On small-leaved shrubs such as yews and boxwoods, this is negligible, especially if your blades are sharp and clean. There is no better way to achieve a crisp, even surface.

Sometimes, however, preserving texture matters more than creating a perfectly flat finish.

This is where hand pruners come in.

Every cut with hand pruners is intentional.

If I’m reducing the size of a shrub, I’ll often identify one dominant branch and remove it back to its origin while leaving the surrounding branches untouched. In many cases, that reduces the size without needing to shorten every branch around it.

Hand pruners also let you place each cut exactly where you want future growth. Wherever you prune, most shrubs respond by producing denser growth below the cut. If I want a shrub to fill in a thin area, recover from winter damage, or simply grow in a particular direction, I’ll usually reach for my pruners.

That’s why I carry them with me even when I’m hedge trimming.

They’re useful for the stubborn branch that refuses to catch in the hedge trimmer, the small correction that improves the overall shape, or the stray tree seedling growing through the hedge that needs to be removed cleanly at its base.

When you’re trimming a hedge, like with any other gardening task, the tool shapes the outcome.

If you have a small rounded shrub where every branch matters, or perhaps one where you prefer a looser, wilder look, hand pruners may be what works best for you.

If you have a very large hedge that you want trimmed cleanly and neatly, a hedge trimmer is a great tool for large areas.

And if you’re somewhere in the middle, enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon after the heat wave breaks, and you simply want to spend some time with your shrub without bringing out the hedge trimmer, a pair of shears rewards the time spent learning them with added flexibility.

The tool shapes the outcome.

About the timing of pruning, seasonal rhythms and long term thinking

It’s been a fragrant past couple of weeks in Grimsby.

A succession of fragrant shrubs have been in bloom, from Korean spice viburnum to lilac to the lovely dwarf Korean lilac. These early blooming shrubs are now approaching the last of their blooms.

Once the last of your Korean spice viburnum or lilac blooms fade, or any of the early blooming shrubs for that matter, including the earlier forsythia, now is a good time to prune.

Shrubs that bloom this early in the season did not have time to form blooms this year. Instead, they adapted to form blooms on last year’s growth. This makes the timing of your pruning particularly important.

It’s not complicated. It just means that the timing of your pruning will affect what your shrub will look like next year.

The easiest way to go about it is to remember when your spring shrub is done blooming. That is a great time to prune it.

Don’t wait until the end of summer. You’ll cut off all that new growth that would have been setting next year’s blooms.

A useful reminder is the natural act of deadheading. Once your blooms are finished, you may already be reaching for your secateurs to remove the bent brown lilac blooms. With pruners in hand, you can give the rest of the shrub a trim as well. Prune to size if it has overgrown its area. Prune to shape if you are looking for a different form. Or simply maintain its shape by adjusting where the new growth will appear.

This is also a good opportunity if you have an early blooming shrub hedge. Forsythia is a good example. Once it finishes blooming, which happened a few weeks ago, you’re good to hedge it.

There is an interesting effect that happens if you prune immediately after bloom. There will often be new growth, and that growth may overshoot the space you have available. Your lilac may put out shoots that extend beyond its current location.

That does not mean later trimming is forbidden.

I’ve noticed that shrubs that bloom on old wood will often still bloom even if you remove a little of that newer growth. You just do not want to remove all of it.

That becomes especially important in older hedges that are too thick to let sunlight into their interior, where new wood may already be struggling to set.

So if you’re wondering, yes, you can always chop a branch later. It’s not going to prevent the entire shrub from blooming the following year.

But if you give it a solid haircut late in the season, you are removing next year’s blooms.

Every shrub is slightly different. Some put out a lot of new growth from the base. Others continue mostly from established stems.

So even though the rule is general, and shrubs that bloom on old wood bloom on previous year’s growth, it helps to observe your own shrub and see what that means in your specific scenario.

Gardening is a practice that happens over years and features a lot of slow repetition.

If you’re new to gardening, know that pruning at the wrong time will not kill the shrub.

If you need to make an emergency intervention and remove half your lilac because it has overgrown its space and you have to do it in August, you may not have blooms the following year as the shrub recovers.

But the shrub is by no means dead.

That absence of blooms is often the feedback that tells you your timing was a little off.

You can adjust from year to year.

Most of our lives do not happen on such a long timescale. Gardening often happens in a single action repeated once a year. To make adjustments, you make that adjustment a year later.

Shrubs are not the only thing getting pruned right now.

As the weather has been good and we’ve had both a lot of rain and a lot of heat in Grimsby, perennials are racing towards the sky.

Some of the early blooming perennials, such as peonies, are now in full bloom.

However, your later blooming perennials, such as agastache, Joe Pye weed, Autumn Joy sedum, and perennial mums, are still mostly putting out foliage and have not started setting blooms.

If they are getting large and you would like to keep them a little more compact, or if you would like to increase the quantity of blooms, now is a good time for what some call the Chelsea chop.

In essence, this means pruning your perennial by about a third of its current height.

This encourages branching.

Where you make one cut, instead of having one stem continue, you may have two, three, or even five stems emerge.

Each of those stems may now set a bloom.

Depending on the plant, you may end up with more blooms overall. Some may be smaller, but the overall effect is larger.

Joe Pye weed is a good example. If happy, it often grows in whorls of five. Wherever you cut, you may get five new stems, each producing a bloom.

The trade-off is that the plant now has to gather resources and produce all that expanded growth.

In many cases, that trade-off is desirable.

Plants such as Autumn Joy sedum and mums bloom late already. Delaying them by a week or two can extend your bloom season significantly.

This matters in Canadian regions where bloom time is already limited and truncated by the arrival of cold temperatures.

Not all perennials respond equally well to the Chelsea chop. Some do not need it at all.

The four above are particularly happy with a good cut.

We have a large Joe Pye weed at home and last year I gave it a partial cut simply to reduce its size.

It responded very well. There were more blooms, and they appeared slightly later than the untouched sections.

This year I pushed the experiment further.

I left the center crown untouched.

Around it, I gave the surrounding stems a light chop.

Then the outer ring of the clump received a deeper cut.

What should happen now is three layers of bloom timing: untouched, shortened, and deeply shortened.

Because the clump is circular, I’m curious whether they will all bloom together a little later, or whether the bloom will stagger between the different layers.

I’m looking forward to August.

As the shrubs fade and the perennials grow, you may also notice that hedges have really filled in.

Specifically, yew hedges are now wearing a bright lime green coat.

That lime green is the new growth.

Yews usually have one strong flush of growth per season, and it happens right about now.

I could hedge them now.

But I’ve noticed that if I jump the gun and hedge too early, there is still quite a bit of energy left in the plant and it feeds another flush of growth.

That means touch-ups later.

A good rule of thumb is to watch for the lime green to begin turning darker.

It does not have to fully transition before you start hedging, but that colour shift is an indicator.

If you hedge as soon as the lime green starts looking scraggly, that is fine, especially in a small garden where a second trim is easy.

If you enjoy that bright green, you can leave it until it disappears and prune later.

I usually prefer the middle ground.

One cut, but before the hedge looks untidy for too long.

It depends on the style of your garden.

Formal gardens benefit from earlier hedging.

Wilder gardens tolerate later hedging.

Weather matters too.

Hedging, like any pruning, is mildly stressful for the plant.

If conditions are dry and hot, it may be worth waiting until after rainfall.

If the hedge is healthy and irrigated, sometimes the practical reality of your schedule wins.

There is usually an in-between.

In this in-between period where spring turns into summer and many plants are in transition, the timing of your actions can change your garden significantly.

But it is not difficult.

The plants will tell you when they are ready.

And remember there is flexibility as well.

We all lead busy lives and sometimes the available moment is not the exact right one.

But it often is not the wrong one either.

It may simply create a slightly different effect.