Landscape Maintenance Weekend Practical: Mary-Jane DeJonge and Kayla Teves

 

Friday, April 18, 2014

 

We started the day off with a walk-around of the grounds to go over what we needed to get done for the weekend. Mary-Jane and I began working on a hosta garden, removing decaying plant matter.  This is a relatively easy task at this time of year since the old plant material can sometimes be raked right out (other spots require secateurs). We also pruned Ilex x meserveae (Holly shrubs) that were in quite rough condition, as well as a beautiful dogwood specimen tree. We anticipate an excessive amount of damage on a lot of plants around the grounds this year, due to the very long winter and high mounds of snow that were left in garden beds. Not only does this cause stress to the plant initially, but having to prune out more damaged or dead branches than usual will just add to the stress the plant is already under.

Our biggest challenge for the weekend though, will be removing sand that was leftover in the garden beds from melting snow piles (it’s everywhere!). Mary-Jane and I raked and removed as much sand as we could to conclude our day.

 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

 

                This chilly morning, Mary-Jane and I got right to work on pruning. There is a cluster of Hydrangea macrophylla shrubs, nestled into a corner of the school. This area does not get a lot of sun, and was also bombarded with snow piles this winter. The piles completely covered these mature shrubs that are about four feet high. With the weight of snow and no sun to melt it quickly, these shrubs were in a sorry state! Mary-Jane and I began gently working our way through each branch in search of living buds, trying to keep as much of the plant as we could, while still maintaining the beautiful, twisty structure of the plant.

By mid-afternoon, we began to grow jealous of the shining sun since we were still confined to the cold, shady corner. So, we decided to break from hydrangeas and move onto pruning a juniper shrub as well as a weeping mulberry tree. The juniper was creeping over the surrounding sidewalks and it was my task to cut back the branches while still maintaining a natural appearance, as well as having no visible stubs left behind. Mary-Jane got to work on the Morus alba Pendula (Weeping Mulberry) tree and thinned it out by pruning branches coming from the center of the plant, as opposed to chopping off the bottom in one flush cut. This allows for better circulation, as well as a more natural look. Once that job was completed, we returned to the hydrangeas for the remainder of the day.

 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

               

There was no time to waste today since Mary-Jane and I still had so much work to do! Besides the minor morning setback (a fire alarm in the greenhouse due to some faulty wires) and making sure everyone was alright, we went into high gear! There was still some pruning on the hydrangeas to be done so we finished that right away. We also removed some Virginia creeper vine that was covering rocks and a light pole. Next, Mary-Jane trimmed some English Ivy that was growing over a curb, as well as removed some periwinkle that was choking out a shrub. I got to work on removing sand and leaves from the surrounding garden beds. This turned out to be a tedious task since there was so much ground to cover! In the meantime, Mary-Jane also pruned a viburnum shrub, and we both met up in the late afternoon to prune some Annabelle Hydrangeas as well as ornamental grasses.

 

 

                Without anticipating how long it would take to prune the hydrangeas as well as remove piles of sand from garden beds, we accomplished as much as we could for the weekend and are pretty satisfied with the results! This will be our last weekend practical here at Fanshawe and it was a great one J