The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Posted on by Posted in Pruning, Spring .

With the threat of yet another snowstorm on the horizon (we’re expecting up to 10 inches of snow/ice Tuesday into Wednesday), I made the executive decision to “get shit done” early this morning. While I only had about a half hour available, I like to think I made the most of the time.

Pruned the Red Twig Dogwood

I have an ‘Arctic Fire’ red twig dogwood and for years now, I’ve been pruning it to the ground each spring. Without fail it reaches four to five feet in height by summer and still shows off those bright red stems each fall/winter.

So here she was today, pre-cut.

       

And within five minutes, she looked like this.

Fun fact: I planted bulbs in front of the ‘Arctic Fire’ many years ago so they could fill the empty space and distract from the red stump in spring.

The daffodils continue to come back year after year and make me look like a genius year after year.

Fun fact #2: I save all of the cut stems of the dogwood and bring them indoors for decorative display. My genius knows no end.

By early May, ‘Arctic Fire’ shows signs of growth.

And rapidly grows all spring/summer.

 

Pruned the Ninebark ‘Diablo’

Another annual March event is the “selective” pruning of the Ninebark (Physocarpus) ‘Diablo’. I cut the older branches to the ground, which typically results in about 2/3 of all the branches being removed.

The “to-be-cut” branches are grayer in color and display more peeling bark.

This keeps this large deciduous shrub small enough so it doesn’t overtake all of the other plants in my foundation bed along the front of the house. Unfortunately this is the only area in the garden where it will thrive as the deer rarely find it here. I’d love to leave it alone and allow it to grow to the max but it would get devoured in any another location in my garden.

While the red twig dogwood pruning is brute force, the ninebark pruning is more of an artistic endeavor. I don’t follow any guidelines. I just know.

Here he is this morning, before I attacked him with a sharp object.

As you can see, he stayed within bounds this past year. Good job by me.

And here is post extreme haircut.

He may look sad and awkward now, but within weeks, he’ll be back to his handsome form.

Eventually making a big statement as that dark foliage dominates and contrasts beautifully with its neighbors.

 

Related Posts

10 Responses

  1. I love this post, with the befores and aftershock, and then the way-befores. Very helpful! Thanks.

  2. I love the red twig dogwood, that is on my shopping list for this year. Great idea to keep the stems for decorating, I will have to remember that.

  3. I have a large ninebark (Diablo) in the front garden. It was wonderfully resilient for years, but then a couple years ago, started to get some white mildew on some of the leaves. I decided to remove it. My daughter cut it down and tried digging it out, but gave up. Last fall it came back, undeterred by her hacking at the roots. I will see if it shows signs again of mildew. If not, it will get a reprieve!

  4. I have a red twig dogwood (not sure of the specific variety) and I never thought to prune it. I’m going to look it up now! And then when the three feet of snow surrounding it melts, I’ll tackle it. Thanks for the inspiration, John.

  5. I have a business maintaining landscaped and I have a client who has several Artic Fire dogwoods that are two years old now and have really grown, I think the shock of cutting them to the ground this spring would be too much for my client, so I will go with the renewal technique you used on the ninebark and probably about as drastic.

  6. Hello ONG, I pruned three big mature ninebark yesterday. I took oldest branches as you said and experimented with one cut it all the way back.

    I had never pruned one before so I looked it up and there’s where I found your blog.

    Your property looks beautiful. You must be up north. I am an obsessed pruner. Nothing makes me happier. Today I pruned a huge overgrown quince. I took out some of the old branches last year and today I took ALL OF the granddaddy’s out. The homeowner was a little shocked. I should have reminded her what I said about it last year. My bad.

Comments are closed.