Revisiting last Fall with a repeat show: Save Time Now for Next Spring
Conventional practice suggests that roses, trees and many other woody plants should be pruned in late winter. But Scott Canning, the Director of Horticulture at Wave Hill — the magnificent public garden overlooking the Hudson River in The Bronx, New York (right) — has learned that the more you can get done earlier, the better it will be when the multitude of spring- tasks demand attention.
This advice sounds obvious. But what about pruning early, doesn’t that present a risk? Early pruning might make the plant think it is time to grow, and freezing temperatures would kill new growth. Scott was formerly the curator of the Cranford Rose Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Necessity made him experiment with pruning some of the hardier roses once they dropped their leaves and the ground had gotten cold. It worked, the plants stayed dormant. Now, he has a pruning regimen that begins in mid-November with the hardiest plants and continues until spring.
On this week’s show, we talk about the glories of Wave Hill, pruning, cleaning seeds for society exchanges and sowing, a bit about the winter displays at this 28-acre jewel of a garden, and Scott’s personal passion – South African plants (left).
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