Prune forsythia? Trim hellebores? Get answers to your winter gardening questions
The winter dormant season does not mean you need to stop gardening. There are houseplants, winter pruning and dormant spraying to be done. Plus this week is the perfect time to force flowering shrubs into early bloom.
Here are answers to your winter gardening questions.
Q. I used to live in a house with a giant forsythia bush and not only did I look forward to the yellow blooms every February, but I also had the tradition – that I think I learned from your column — of cutting branches from my forsythia in January to force into early bloom indoors. I do see my new neighbor has a forsythia bush at her house. So my question is this – can I just go over and prune off some branches to force and tell her that pruning your forsythia right now is a good idea? Maybe if you suggested this idea in your column she would see it and believe me. — J.K., Buckley
A. Yes, January is a good time to prune whips or long branches from forsythia shrubs or to thin out older, thicker stems from inside a mature shrub by cutting them back to ground level. When you prune a forsythia just know that where you make the cut is where the shrub will resprout with crazy new growth. Pruning a vigorous shrub like forsythia is best done January through the month of March. Gardeners are the most generous of people, so just ask that new neighbor before you do her pruning. All gardeners know that sharing plants makes a garden grow better.
Q. How exactly does one force branches into flower during the winter months? I have tried cutting apple tree branches, quince and cherry but the bare branches just sit there in a vase with no blooms. — G., email
A. The easiest to force shrub has to be the bright yellow forsythia, so start with that. Just cut the stem from the shrub at an angle and quickly bring the bare branches indoors to set into a tall vase of warm water. Change the water every few days. If buds don’t swell and bloom, your home may be too dry. Try covering the branches with a plastic bag and mist them until you see flowers. Other branches from fruit trees, quince and early flowering trees like magnolia are more difficult to force open early. Wait until just a few weeks before their normal blooming time, not a few months. You can fool mother nature with flower forcing, but she won’t let you get too carried away.
Q. Thank you for the reminder on Facebook or Instagram (I follow you on both) about how we need to cut the old leaves off of our hellebores this winter to stop the spread of disease. Some of my hellebores already have black marks on the stems and leaves so I know they have the leaf blight infection. My concern is: Should these infected leaves be allowed into my compost bin? — O.G.
A. The correct answer is no, do not put diseased plant material into the compost. But I confess I do sometimes add hellebore leaves to my piles of garden debris when I know the done compost will be used as a mulch around trees and shrubs, not near my hellebores. So far this has worked for me.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 5:45 AM.