Cedar Trees

We have 5 Cedar Trees, they have not been pruned for 15-25 years and have suffered from a lack of water for many years as they are located right next to a Locust Tree and the cement staircase of an…

Suckering Rose of Sharon

  The picture shown below is either growing out of my Rose of Sharon tree or another tree beginning – I really don’t want more trees where this one is – what is it – what do I do about…

Dead branches on gingko biloba tree

We redid the landscaping in our backyard 2 years ago and need to cut lower branches of our ginkgo tree to allow equipment in. It is a mature tree standing over 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The soil…

Basket willow

Hi there I have a large section of basket willow that have formed a shrub shape. They are getting too large and we would like to cut them back by half the size. The insides of the bush seem to…

Too late to prune boxwood?

Hello! I just moved into a house with an old boxwood hedge growing. It looks like it was once pruned to hedge shape but has not been pruned for maybe a few years. Is it too late for me to…

Shaping a young Japanese maple

Hi, I purchased a very young Empior l (or Bloodgood) Japanese maple last year. It’s only about 3 feet tall now. My question is: should it have a central leader as it grows higher? As this one doesn’t have. The…

Cultivating more patience than plant growth

In your gardening guide for roses, what does “Pruning removes potential leaf surface from the rose plant” mean, in your guide to cutting roses? With Irises and peonies, the plant branching isn’t so complicated, and they bloom over very short…

Mandevilla pruning

My mandevilla’s have lots of blossoms coming but the vines are now over reaching the trellis I put in the pots. Should I prune the ends to promote growth lower down in the plant or should I let the vines…

Juniper with brown interior

We have two overgrown junipers, 27 years old, beneath our southfacing front window. They are trimmed every year but last year when I tried to do a more severe trim I found that after 4” of greenery the entire interior…