Attack of the floof
We are at that time when everything is getting a bit fluffy- shrubs, vines, hedges… because it is still Spring, it is a bit awkward to trim it- all of the plant’s energy is sitting at the leaf tips, so cutting it back will kneecap the plant’s energy.
But this is actually not so bad! Because some things are happily cut back at this time, and some things deserve a good kneecapping. Take ivy, for instance. If you cut back all of the growth now, you won’t notice in terms of its appearance (it will still be dark and leafy), but it will lose lots of energy (which is great, because usually we want ivy to remain the same size or smaller).
Take buxus, however- if your buxus is smaller than you’d like, or if it’s had blight and has gaps- you want to harness as much of that new energy as possible. So if you absolutely have to trim it now, be delicate and generous, and hold back on a good trim until December (before the sun gets too hot and may burn it).
Like, I would cut this amount off if I absolutely had to, and no more.
What I'm obsessing over this week
I have spent a lot of time obsessing about the moon phases. I want to be the kind of person who knows where the moon is at all times. It is our job as earthy people to at all times be connected to the sun and moon and sky, right?
Nah. Honestly being connected to the natural world is a muscle which we need to exercise, not something strong which we are already born with.
The reason I am so keen on moon phases is because they tell me the best times to prune, and in Spring ideally we wouldn’t do much pruning at all- pruning/trimming in the wet invites infection; ideally we would wait until that growth is a bit older. If we prune when the moon is full, more energy is at the leaf tip- so we can prune things which we really want to calm down (vines, for instance. Unwanted plants, for instance, are all best cut back then). If we prune when the moon is new (ie, absent from the sky), then the plants energy is closer to the ground, and removing growth from the plant will be less damaging to their energy levels. Hebes, for instance, should only be pruned when the moon is new- they are so fussy about being trimmed at all that this helps them a lot.
So in my head I have been putting together a “what to prune at what time of moon phase” chart. But what I would really like is to stare at the moon every night, and to remember what it’s up to without googling it every day.
What staff learnt about this week
Our weekly focus was buxus, because we have spent so long on it over the past few years. Some of our clients have been absolutely destroyed by buxus blight and this is year 2 of aggressive treatments.
Highlights: It looks like the monster cutbacks that we did last year have done a lot of good, and by December even the most damaged of hedges have sprung back. It is also great to see that regular seaweed tea- spraying- has made a enormous difference in the health of the buxus.
Lowlights: Cutting dead out of buxus is a time consuming and sometimes painful task. Oh and I got neem oil in my eye, dealing to some which was showing signs of blight. It was very painful, do not recommend 0/10.
This was a ball and will hopefully be a ball again by March.
Some garden tasks for this week
Given the above, I can tell you it is a waning crescent moon, and will be moving into New Moon territory, so the energy is leaving them leaf tips if you can’t help but trim.
I am glad that we are getting some rain, as gardens were all starting to dry out!
And this weekend is the biggest gardening one of the year- Labour Weekend- traditionally this is the time to plant out your veges for the year! Remember to plant in succession and not put all of your eggs in one basket- if you can stand to plant a few plants, weeks apart, your harvests will be much more prolonged.
This weekend I am planting out my peas- so late, but we have been moving and I have found them a shady place. I have a few tomatoes but they look a bit miserable so I will do my traditional and spread out some of my home compost heap, you always get a heap of tomatoes from that! And I am starting more seeds- I tend to plant fortnights apart throughout the growing season, so while I am starting to plant nightshades (tomatoes, peppers etc), there is still a lot of space in the garden for later on. Remember to dig in some good compost with those seedlings everyone, and have a great week!