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Professional Pruning

I rarely resort to hiring help in the garden but I'm learning that sometimes it is wise to do so and worth every penny. Case in point - some hideous out-of-control trees that were beyond my ability to deal with. If I were smarter, I would have tackled these issues from the beginning but I didn't know better. The first is a pear tree that was planted along the back fence line. I've worked on this for the past several years, every year with the intent of reducing the height or possibly removing it altogether. As you can see in the photo, I had cut back everything but three limbs and finally realized that it would be dangerous for me to try and bring them down. The limbs grow straight up into the air and the remaining three are about 20 feet tall.  After -- there is a hole in the sky view but the tree should fill in nicely for a good screen and I can keep it trimmed down from this point forward. Farther down along the fence line, and the view from the deck, are two massive pho

Fuchsia 'Hawkshead'

 

We fell for fuchsias in a big way when we moved here because they didn't fare well in the southern heat at all. We started growing them here in pots the first year and then learned that many can be grown in the ground. One of my favorites is 'Hawkshead' which has pendulous white flowers. If you look closely at the flowers, you will notice that they have green tips. 'Hawkshead' is a vigorous upright plant and reaches about 3 feet in both height and width. It tends to have a heavy bloom in early summer followed by another one in fall here in our garden.


 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. I fell in love with this fuchsia too. I tried growing it outside and, to its credit, it made it through our summer if not into the following year. It's just too dry for it to thrive in my borders here, although I might be tempted to try it again in a large pot inside my lath house.

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  2. So lovely!

    Fuchsias grow well in Sunset 24 where I grew up--23, just one zone inland, not so good. Yours are spectacular.

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  3. My Hawkshead tends pink here in Napa-I assume it's the heat since Anabelle pinks up in summer too. It's a prolific bloomer from the moment it leafs out in April.

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