my fears of damaging my favourite plant I'm going to satisfy myself with a tidy up again this year.
Fits your keen but lazy description.
...pretty consistent so assume advice is good. Or consistently bad.
Next year the branches you need to trim will be bigger and will bleed more. Just accept that you will have to let it decide how big and what shape it will grow.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I'm happy to compromise with it. I'm happy for it to do its own thing up to a point. If it doesn't behave in a mannerly fashion, it will have to learn that there are consequences.
Different plants use different strategies for going dormant in inclement conditions. Drought as well as frost. Even with a strategy, they don't follow exactly the same course every year. You have to observe your plants and learn to recognise when dormancy is ending.
When I lived in Devon, I had a neighbour who was a retired tenant farmer. He did everything on a fixed day. I helped him water his runner beans on his allotment, I remember that he sewed his beans in the open on his mother's birthday. This sticking by tradition had not helped him become rich.
Where does the flowing sap go? In the spring, usually upwards, drawn by loss of water through growing leaves and the consequent capillary action. So the first sign of breaking dormancy is growth in the over-wintering buds. If the buds haven't moved, the plant is probably still dormant. Don't just hug them, get to know your trees.
In north America, maple syrup is tapped about March/April. It seems to do little lasting harm. There must be some parallels with decorative Acers.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Posts
Fits your keen but lazy description.
...pretty consistent so assume advice is good. Or consistently bad.
Next year the branches you need to trim will be bigger and will bleed more. Just accept that you will have to let it decide how big and what shape it will grow.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Different plants use different strategies for going dormant in inclement conditions. Drought as well as frost. Even with a strategy, they don't follow exactly the same course every year. You have to observe your plants and learn to recognise when dormancy is ending.
When I lived in Devon, I had a neighbour who was a retired tenant farmer. He did everything on a fixed day. I helped him water his runner beans on his allotment, I remember that he sewed his beans in the open on his mother's birthday. This sticking by tradition had not helped him become rich.
Where does the flowing sap go? In the spring, usually upwards, drawn by loss of water through growing leaves and the consequent capillary action. So the first sign of breaking dormancy is growth in the over-wintering buds. If the buds haven't moved, the plant is probably still dormant. Don't just hug them, get to know your trees.
In north America, maple syrup is tapped about March/April. It seems to do little lasting harm. There must be some parallels with decorative Acers.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."