Pruning Mediation
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – April 8
I pruned several of my hydrangeas today, cutting off old flowers and dead branches. This spring task is pretty time consuming because it’s not a job that can be hurried.
How big leaf hydrangeas are to be pruned, be they mop-head or lace-cap, is one of the frequent questions I answer on GardenLine. So frequent, in fact, that I posted an article about hydrangea pruning on GardenLady.com, along with a downloadable pdf of the information.
Beyond the basic information of “first do this and next do that,” however, I’m interested in helping people to realize that there are gifts in this process. Today, in fact, I reminded myself of the same thing.
Faced with so much that needs doing in this early-spring landscape, I want to rush through the tasks that need to be done. If the hydrangeas could get pruned quickly I might also apply fertilizer to selected shrubs and plant those Rhododendrons that we purchased last week.
The hydrangeas are not sympathetic or cooperative with my desire for speed. Like it or not, I must proceed step by step, and accept that even after I think I’ve clipped every old flower and dead stem, that others will suddenly come into focus. I must also make decisions about those canes that aren’t really dead but aren’t thriving either. Some need to be removed even if they are still living, while others can be left to see if they will produce healthy growth after all.
A few branches are crossed or weak looking, and these need to be cut out. And a couple of the stems are old and clearly not going to be produce many flowers. Some cuts are easy and others require the gardener’s best judgment.
Once I surrender to this task it becomes a meditation. Because thoughtful pruning requires concentration, all other thoughts and experiences slip away. Instead of fighting this chore, once I yield to the cut-by-cut process, it is relaxing and soothing. There are many meditation traditions from Buddhism to yoga, prayer beads and beyond.
I think that gardeners have long known another school of meditation: pruning.
This is how my Grayswood hydrangea looks before I get into pruning-mediation-mode...
And here is how it looks afterwards. I've taken off the dead flowers, removed all dead canes, and trimmed off crossing, weak and odd branches. Notice that I haven't tried to make the shrub shorter than the windows....a futile task....give up on keeping them short.
The less you take off, the more flowers you have. I love how this plant looks from late-June into September. If I cut it back to try and make it shorter, it would grow just as tall by July and that new growth would be all green.
April 9th, 2012 at 8:32 AM
I really enjoy pruning. I can totally relate to that feeling of wanting to hurry up and get it done, but once my pruners start cutting I can easliy get lost in one shrub or ornamental tree for WAY too long. It really is a meditation isn’t it.
One thing that drives me crazy; when I see landscapers going over a row of Hydrengeas with electric shears! Or worse yet, a beautiful Dogwood turned into a tightly cropped, lollipop tree! AAAHHHH!!!
April 9th, 2012 at 11:40 AM
I completely agree Forest Keeper. I always see it as macro and micro pruning. Whereas some plants can be pruned using macro techniques such as electric and petrol hedge trimmers, many plants such as hydrangea, pyracanthus etc really require micro techniques such as secateurs for their full flowering potential to be realised.
April 9th, 2012 at 6:24 PM
I’ve always maintained that there are certain landscapers who are in training for the day when shearing becomes an Olympic sport.
Love the idea of macro and micro pruning. Some plants, such as the pink flowering Spireas or Potentilla, require that “1/3 off the top” shearing approach. Others…not so much.
April 10th, 2012 at 7:30 AM
Last year the Deer helped in pruning the Hydrangea. All I had to do was neaten things up a bit, was a good bloom year for the Hydrangea. So far this year no help from the Deer. Looks like a couple of long meditation sessions coming up. This is not to say that the Deer have not been around helping with the pruning but that they have.
Have a great day,
John
April 11th, 2012 at 8:54 AM
I am really looking forward to be on the Cape next week and do the pruning of our edge of hydrangeas. I agree it is a meditation practice because it asks concentration and time. But I know the reward: hundreds or even a thousand of huge blue flowers in July and August. Happy Spring !
April 11th, 2012 at 11:33 AM
This came just in time. I am going out to prune my large Moth Light lacecap this afternoon.
April 11th, 2012 at 11:23 PM
What happens if you don’t prune?
April 12th, 2012 at 7:20 AM
Erica,
If you don’t do anything at all the worst that happens is the dead sticks/ends build up. Sometimes they take away from the look of the plant later, but sometimes the leaves cover this up. Many people go for several years without pruning, but eventually need to clean the plant out because the sticks trap leaves and other debris, and make the plant look messy. Maybe worse than no pruning is when people cut the canes of hydrangeas way down to “neaten them up.” This results in a green-domed plant with very few flowers.
April 24th, 2012 at 2:26 AM
What a great example of pruning. The results look great. I think I am cutting down my hydrangeas too far, I often cut back a couple of nodes of green buds, unless there is a pair of new buds which look really strong. I should probably focus more on removing the weak wood. My bushes are much younger, so don’t have as many stalks to cut away.
April 24th, 2012 at 5:41 PM
Garden Lily – Cutting a couple of nodes doesn’t do any harm, especially on older shrubs. You might be finding, as I have, that often those top buds get a bit frost-scorched anyway so they aren’t as vigorous as the others. Younger plants are less time consuming when it comes to pruning, you’re absolutely right. Have a GREAT spring!