Summertime and living is easy--is it?

Well it's time to get serious about being outdoors.  Time to break out the lawn chairs and fire up the BBQ! 

However, it's also time to become more diligent in examining the garden for pests.  They move in very fast this time of year.

Be careful not to let your plants dry out too much as we head into summer.  Especially the outdoor potted plants. Thrips (insect) and Powdery Mildew (fungus) are both opportunistic invaders, and they are just waiting for dry enough conditions to make their move. 

Here is a link to pests and management techniques for the PNW:  http://insects.ippc.orst.edu/pnw/insects?15NURS13.dat

Mosquitoes are out now, so protect yourself and your pets from these pests. "Mosquitoes are a vector agent that carries disease-causing viruses and parasites from person to person without exhibiting symptoms themselves." Here is more good information about Mosquitoes from Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito

Ticks are a real problem if you hike or trail walk!  Remember to inspect pets every day if they go outside.  "Major tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, tularemia, tick-borne meningoencephalitis, Colorado tick fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, babesiosis and cytauxzoonosis."  More good information here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticks

Pruning

Most gardeners know that Woody plants in the Landscape may require some occasional maintenance.

According to the experts, Woody plant pruning is best done according to Season, usually late Winter for a majority of the Woody plants. There are exceptions to every rule of course, and the PNW is an exception for a lot of the rules it seems.  Here hedge trimmers seem to be the pruning tool of choice, while balls, boxes and other odd geometric shapes seem to be the sought after plant shapes.

The plant butchery takes place in all Seasons here in the PNW regardless of what may be the right season for the plant or the environment, we do it when we feel the need to "CONTROL" something!

For example, I would never buy a car from a dealer who hacks 50 foot tall 'Crimson King' Maple Trees into 12 foot stumps with a few leaves on top.  Are they intimidated by the height of the natural tree, or what?

Well done pruning is not overly stressful to the plant.  It should showcase the natural beauty of the plant as it exits within it's own environment.  The form and structure of each plant is a masterpiece of Nature, and should be gently handled and tastefully displayed.  Beautiful artistry, and design without bondage, can appear to be a natural element of the landscape, but not if you use a hedge trimmer!

Correctly done pruning is an Art form.  If your really lucky you might get a real "Artist' in the garden when you schedule maintenance from a "Horticulture Professional" who has been trained in "Pruning."