Each month, throughout the year, Alpine Gardens will be sharing it's years of expertise with you, our customers. These tips are general guidelines, for specific information about your particular situation, please give us a call or consult your local county extension office.

Tip of the Month April 2008

Mind the pines

Mugho pines are a popular evergreen shrub that is used is small areas. Most of their growth occurs in late April and early May in our climate. In order to keep these pines in the confined areas that they have been allotted we have to do some minor pruning every year. The new growth is called a candle on these plants. The growth will stretch from the tips of the branches and as the growth ages the needles will comes from this new growth. The best way to control the size of these pines (and many other varieties) is to pinch or snap the new growth off while it is still soft and has not had the needles fully formed. This is better than cutting as the new needles are not cut in half and thus do not give a brown cast to the plant. Snapping these branches will cause the plant to form increasingly dense branches as more buds form year after year.

Review Previous Months Tips

April 2007 — Spring Pruning of Blue Mist Spirea

August 2007 — Mid-Summer Pruning of Crabapples

October 2007 — Getting your landscape ready for Winter

Nevember 2007 — Autumn leaf clean up can prevent some plant problems

March 2008 — Care of Spring Flowering Bulbs