My secateurs and camera are essential gardening tools. I must have pruned hundreds of shrubs over the last fifteen years, but I literally have taken thousands of landscape and gardening related images.
Here are a few from this week.
Frost patterns are a great way to provide a clear visual explanation of landscape and garden design forms. So that is circular, biomorphic, and geomorphic covered then. Sadly no rectilinear frost patterns could be found.
circular 
biomorphic 
geomorphic
In addition to being a Professional gardener, I design window displays for The Raven – a hotel in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Valentines day is just a around the corner…
I didn’t make the bird !
Veronicastrum, Miscanthus and Clematis seed heads remain. Why anyone would consider cutting them back at this time of year defeats me, Their architectural forms provide outstanding visual structure within winter gardens. I won’t be cutting these back for another month or so.
Veronicastrum fascination 
Miscanthus sinensis 
Clemattis seed head, through rose stems.
Cotinus coggygria ( The smoke bush ) was pruned today. I choose to cut the stems right back every year in late winter. The first two images are from a single years growth. They were in excess of a metre in length.
pre- pruning 
pre- pruning 
post pruning !
The colour contrast between the new lime foliage of Monbretia and this Hellebore was so vibrant. I just had to take an image.
Do you have a favourite gardening tool, if so I would love to hear ?
Sally Wicks 
Gads! That pollarding is . . . interesting. I just wrote about it, and posted another older article about the same topic within a few days. Seriously, I would prune back to clean knuckles. Those stubs interfere with compartmentalization of the wounds. Leaving one or two stubs elongates the knuckles, which is actually a better technique, but is very different from leaving too many stubs. Stubs farther back on the stems can remain, but will develop into more knuckles.
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This garden has several Cotinus in it, so I am trying out several different ways of pruning it. The owners are quite happy for me to prune in different ways .
I have made some other pruning cuts that are in all purpose Coppicing. I am looking forward to watching them grow away in the spring. I may we’ll write a blog about it in the future !
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Wow. Talented gardener, photographer, window dresser and blogger. Respect.
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Thanks Linda, that is very kind of you to say this. That’s self employment for you, I’ve always got another new idea to work on.
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