Fall leaves suncatcher project for kids

Thanks to good rainfall and cooperative weather, we have been given the gift of a gloriously colorful fall this year.  Take some time out from your busy schedule to enjoy and preserve the fall bounty with your kids with this fun, easy project.

Fall Leaves Sun catcher

Beautiful fall color for your window!

You will need:

• Beautiful fall leaves.  The more colorful the better.
• Waxed paper
• Newspaper
• A towel or ironing board
• An iron

Cover work surface with newspapers.  If you have an ironing board, use that for your work surface, but if you don't, then spread a towel on a table to protect it from the heat.

Lay down a sheet of wax paper.

Arrange leaves on top of the waxed paper. Cover with another piece of wax paper. 

Place a piece of newspaper on top and iron with a warm iron until crayon shavings melt and the two sheets of wax paper sticks together. 

Trim and hang in the window.

Pruning

Hey!  Hold on there...Just because some guys with a truck are pruning your neighbor's trees does not necessarily mean they know what they are doing.  But you could know what you are doing by learning just a few easy facts.  It doesn't take a degree in horticulture to prune properly, but it does take the proper equipment and some basic understanding of the rules of pruning.

First, the proper equipment.  You need sharp pruners or loppers.  As long as they are sharp, most pruners or loppers will do, but the best brands are Felco, Fiskar, Bahco, and Corona.

Next, the technique.  Cut all branches cleanly with no jagged edges.  Prune just after a branch or bud and if next to the trunk, prune flush to the trunk.

Warning:  Do NOT use  tar or any product on the wound.  Mother Nature will heal it up all on her own.  The use of these products will kill the cambium layer of the tree in that area. The cambium layer is the area just below the bark that divides to produce wood or xylem on the inner side toward the center of the tree. Leave the wound open to air.






Light Pruning
Trees and shrubs can be lightly pruned any time of the year.  If it is a flowering tree or shrub, prune it right after it blooms.  If you find disease in a plant or insect infestation, wipe down your tools with alcohol before moving onto the next shrub.

You prune to:

• Help shape the plant (but try to stay with the natural shape of the plant)
• Help balance the shape of a plant
• Remove a weird branch that is sticking out
• Remove dead branches.  Dead branches can encourage disease and pest infestation, so they need to be removed as soon as possible.
• Removing crossing branches.

If you have to prune to keep a shrub from growing, it has been planted it in the wrong area of your garden.  It should be moved, but if that is not possible, try pruning it down into the middle of the plant as opposed to using hedge trimmers, which only prune the very ends of the branches.  There are enough cultivars of various plants on the market today so that you should be able to find a plant in the size and shape you desire without having to force it to your will.  Buying a Gold Mop cypress and trying to keep it as a 3'x'3 mound is like buying a Great Dane and trying to dwarf it because you want a small dog.

Hard pruning of Crape Myrtles is not only ugly, but an unsound horticultural practice.  It promotes unhealthy sucker growth and exposes the tree to disease and insect infestation.

And please, unless you are Pearl Fryar, try to stay with the natural shape of the plant.

It's not too late to plant!

Fall colors at Oak Ridge Shrubbery

Fall foliage viewed from our stoneyard

 Fall is for planting!  Woody shrubs and trees are the ideal candidates for fall plantings.  September and October are ideal months to plant, but you can still plant in November too.  Fall is an ideal time because we still have warm ground temperatures, but the air temps have dropped, which means less watering as well as less sweating.

Planting with soil amendments is the key to success in our clay soils.  Cow manure and soil conditioners are the answer to good plant nutrition and drainage.  Hole sizes need to be generous, at least twice as wide as the existing root ball (or pot) and one and a half times as deep.  You want to plant trees and shrubs 1/2"-3/4" high, meaning the grade of the plant (top of the root ball) needs to be slightly higher than your existing soil grade).

Watering new plants through their first year is important.  Much less water is needed during the cooler months, but do remember that new plants still have watering needs (albeit not as much).  All plants will continue to need water during the winter months if we have a dry season with no snow or little rain.  Keep in mind that cold temperatures and winds can still desiccate the soil.

Fertilization can be done on a limited basis in September.  I recommend this only for trees and shrubs whose color is off.  Yellowing or uncharacteristic pale green foliage is an indication of lack of fertility.  You want to follow the direction for the size of the plant, but go with half of the recommended rate during the cold months.  When fertilizing more, most assuredly is not better.  Use Hollytone or Treetone.  Do not use grass fertilizer like 10-10-10!  Tree and shrub fertilizers provide yoru plants with the correct amount of micronutrients without giving them the jolt that is caused by grass fertilizer.

For more detailed information on planting trees and shrubs, check out our blog article How to install a plant in Guilford County.

Keeping your gardens looking great throughout the fall is possible, despite the crazy heat from this summer.  Encore Azaleas, knock out roses, and Loropetalum bring a re-emergence of color in the fall.  Gardenias, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, dianthus, and many other flowers may also bloom again in the fall with careful pruning.  Cutting off old blooms will promote a colorful fall surge.

Additional plants to consider:
Flowering:

Toad Lily

• Anemones
• Toad Lilies
• Asters
• Chrystanthemums

Berrying:

Callicarpa (Beautyberry)

• Callicarpa (Beautyberry)
• Ilex verticellata (Winterberry)

 Color changing foliage:

Oakleaf Hydrangea

• Wildfire black gum
• Korean Stweartia
• Japanese Maple
• Chinese Pistachio trees
• Oakleaf Hydrangea

We are now operating under winter hours.   Drop by the garden center and check out our latest featured plants!