Summertime, Time to prune, weed and clean up.

Look around your garden, what do you see? As the weather gets warmer and the lazy day of summer are upon us, it is time to get some maintenance done. Cutting back overgrown shrubs will help them to keep their nice shape. As you have seen I had leaf pruned my Bonsai trees. This helps with scale of the tree and color. Dead Heading ( what a term) what does this mean? Well simply it is taking off the spent flower blooms. On the annual that you have planted this will force a new blooming. On our perennials this will help the plant get stronger. Don't dead head the plants that you want to set seed. Biennials are plants that set seed this season and bloom the following year. So we don't dead head these.

Good Design Goes a Long Way

If your homes landscape is designed properly it will be a source of enjoyment for your entire family, it will enhance your community and add to the resale value of your property. Landscape design involves much more than placing trees, shrubs and other plants on the property. It is an art which deals with conscious arrangement or organization of outdoor space for human satisfaction and enjoyment. In Homeowners Guide To Landscaping you will learn how to: Organize and develop your yard for maximum use and pleasure; Create a visual relationship between the house and the site and Reduce maintenance to the minimum.

Bonsai Pruning and Training

Lately I have been pruning all the maples that I have been growing. Leaf pruning does wonders for the look of your trees. Bonsai growing is a slow and patient business. Take your time before you cut, as it will not grow back. After you have leaf pruned your trees, this is a good time to look at the overall shape of your tree. Using training wire shape the tree to the desired shape. This maybe done a number of times throughout the life of you tree, to get just the right shape and look.

When wiring your trees make sure you bend the wire tightly around the trunk from the bottom up. Wire should be evenly spaced and snug to the tree. Too loose and the bend won't hold and all your work would be wasted.