More pruning

I've spent most of the week pruning in different parts of the garden. I quite enjoy pruning. Actually I just love being outside this time of year doing whatever, after having been inside a good bit over the winter. Today was another beautiful day in the mid 50's, and I was working with Jonathan. I started off pruning a couple Roses, Physocarpus, and a Hibiscus behind the main house. Then towards the end of the day we worked on pollarding a group of Salix alba 'Britzensis' near the Serpentine. It's hard to finally prune these as they look so wonderful right now. The brilliant orange-red stems from last season's growth glow above an underplanting of Schizachyrium scoparium. 

These are managed by removing the new growth right back to the older, brown wood. By doing this you are able to maintain the desired size of the tree and ensure that each year you will have these beautiful, bright colored stems through winter. 

Another detail that could be missed just walking by is the woven branches.  Most Salix sp. have very pliable new growth, which make them great candidates for bending and weaving and for creative uses in the garden. We saved all the pruned stems and will use them in some display capacity.