SPRING is just three i wee
weeks away so it’s time

to finish up your win-

ter jobs and get ready

for the new season.
If vou have not already

done your pruning, now ts
the time two do same of it.
First, leave all the conitercus
trees urval late March or early
oe

April and concentrate on the
deciduous shrubs and trees. .

Within this group determine which ones formed buds last sura-
mer and are best pruned after they finish blooming, For example:
rhododendron, camellia and lilac. Most shrubs fall into this category.
When in doubt, check the branches to see if there are any tiny
flower heads forming or consult a reference book.

Deciduous plants that can be pruned now are generally
those that produce blooms on new growth or trees thar pro-

+ duce flowers on nwo-vear-old
Roy wood. Common examples are
hydrangea, rose, potentilia, spi-
raca, hardy hibiscus, fruit trees
and many ornamental trees.
Pruning vines is not so straight
forward because some need to be
.. pruned hard, such as Clematis jack-
$0W #8 mani, while others like Clemats
grows montana need almost no pruning,
unless they are encroaching on
other plants. Other vines such as wisteria and honeysuckle produce
new growth on an old wood skeleton. The new vines produced fast
year can be cut back to three or four buds this year. Watch for the
new buds on roses and as soon as they are visible it is ime ro cut out
the old wood and shorten back the canes you plan to keep. Always
cut above an outwardly-facing bud so the new growth will be grow-
ing away from the centre of the plant. This will give the plant an
open “candelabra” form. Rub offany buds thar are developing on
the inside of the canes to prevent them from forming in the future.

The time has now passed when it is safe to prune grapes
and some trees such as maple, birch, beech and plane. Cut one
small branch and leave it for 10 minutes before checking to sce
if there is any sap running. If you can fecl wetness on the cut
or it is dripping sap, postpone your pruning until the tree has
leafed out (or do it in December of 1997).

Sometime before the first bud breaks you should be giving
your deciduous plants a final spraying of lime-sulphur and dor-
mant oil. One wil! help to keep the fungi under control and
the other will smother insects.

The next few weeks will be a good time to move trees and
shrubs, or to divide some of your old root-bound perennials.

Clean the mulch away from the newly emerging bulbs and
add a spring fertilizer. This fertilizer has to dissolve, wash down
to the roots and be absorbed before the leaves die and the bulb
goes dormant. Fertilizer placed directly on or against the bulb
leaves will burn and damage them.

Begonia tubers and canna rhizomes should be brought out of
winter storage immediately if you want early flowering plants. I
find I have the best luck with begonia tubers if 1 place them in a
flat of growing medium composed of % peat, sharp sand and %
perlite so the tops are just barely visible and then cover them
with plastic wrap. The roots form in the soft porous medium and
the tubers are easy to lift and transplant when the leaves are
about Z to 3 cm high (.8 to 1.2 in.). The sand that sticks to the
roots and is close to the tuber seems to inhibit the weevil grubs
that are prone to attack the tubers in the summer and fall.

Canna rhizomes are best divided into smatfer sections.
Throw away the old section with the mature stem and retain
each piece that has an eye or sprout on it. The rhizomes can be
potted up in soil and grown so they will be 30 to 50 cm high
(12 to 20 in.) and ready for transplanting by May 24.

If you want an carly start on your vegetable garden or other
hardy plants, now is the time to set up a cold frame. Early
crops such as spinach will germinate at 5 to 7 degrees C and
do not mind the cool weather. Spinach seed germinated later A ae .
than March ] will bolt and go to seed before it reaches maruri- NEWS photo Terry Peters

ty. Peas are also quite cold hardy.
It is too early to start renovating the lawn but you can start_ — WITH winter in full retreat, gardening columnist Roy Jonsson reports it’s time to

applying lime. Use dolomite lime and apply at 20 kg per 97 sq. get out the work gloves and head into the garden. if you have not already done
metre (44 Ibs. per 1,000 sq. ft.). your pruning, now is the time to start on certain species.

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O8 | Me , MAPLE LEAF
yr GARDEN CENTRES

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