Pruning
“It is accepted theory that the best time to prune is during the dormant times for any plant,” the Internet told me today. Prune in the winter to encourage growth; prune in the summer to slow it.
It’s winter, at least officially for a few more weeks. I guess this means it is a good time to prune if I’m hoping for growth this spring. And I am.
There is, of course, lots of misinformation on the Internet, and I have certainly killed my fair share of plants. But now, after this winter, which might have been mild but still seemed long and cold and dark, I am definitely in need of something. Pruning sounds right. Feels needed.
Feels like cutting off some dead branches — withered by inattention and lack of care — is a good step. Dead heading shriveled blooms so than something new can blossom in its place.
I wonder if I’ve waited to long to do this. Maybe there won’t be new growth here. I think of the peonies that died in the cold, and how their stumps look too small to come back again. They were beautiful; last year there were so many it was hard to keep up. It’ll be a shame if they don’t come back. Maybe it will just take awhile.
The ranunculus in the pot on the porch will only bloom this once. It was worth it while they lasted. Something else can fill the pot in the spring. That’s how these things go.
It’s hard to make some of the cuts — won’t that hurt? It might. But no use sending all that energy to a dying bloom or rotting branch. Sometimes things are better off just removed.
I trust that something new will grow, in time.
