LAND DESIGNS UNLIMITED LLC

A Patient Craftsman Creating Exceptional Landscapes

Author: John Holden

  • How to Prune a Tree Hydrangea – Part 1

    How to Prune a Tree Hydrangea – Part 1

    Prune your tree hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) after growth has stopped in the fall or before new growth in the spring.  Tree hydrangeas can take a heavy pruning with ease.  Don’t be afraid to prune them.

    Your goal when pruning tree hydrangeas is to:

    1. Remove crossing branches.
    2. Remove dead branches.
    3. Remove last years flower buds.
    4. Thin out weak stems to encourage larger blooms.
    5. Make room for new growth.

    The first time you prune your tree hydrangea it’s probably going to take a while.  Take it one cut at a time and you’ll do fine.

    The video above goes into all the detail you need to get the job done.  Please post any questions in the comments below.

    By John Holden

  • Why Should You Hire a Landscape Designer?

    Why Should You Hire a Landscape Designer?

    What are the benefits of hiring a landscape designer?  Why should you hire a landscape designer?

    There are at least three situations where you should hire a landscape designer:

    1. The most obvious reason, you don’t know about garden design.  A good landscape designer can help you get the results that best meet your needs.
    2. You know about gardening but have a limited knowledge of plants or design.  There’s a world of plants out there that you are not familiar with.  A landscape designer can introduce you to those plants and show you how to make the best use of them in your landscape.
    3. You don’t know about gardening but you do have an idea of what you want. If you call me and say, “I want a patio” there are some questions I’ll ask you are, “What is the patio for?  Do you want a quiet place to relax?  A stimulating place to entertain?  A place where young children can play? Are you looking to combine different design needs?”  A landscape designer can hone your ideas into a beautiful landscape.

    Make sure your landscape designer puts your needs first.  Your landscape design is about meeting your needs.  If you suspect a landscape designer isn’t looking out for your best interests trust your gut.

    When I design a landscape I act as a filter translating my clients needs into a finished landscape design.

  • How to Prune Using the Three Cut Method

    How to Prune Using the Three Cut Method

    There is plenty of information about how to prune using the three cut method.  Today I’d like to show you why to prune using the three cut method.

    When pruning trees and shrubs we want the wound to heal quickly.  The quicker the wound heals the better your tree or shrub can seal out attack by disease, rot, and insects.

    The three cut method lets your trees and shrubs heal quickly.

    How to Prune Trees and Shrubs Using the Three Cut Method

    We are going to make three cuts with our pruning saw to remove a branch.

    First Cut

    Cut from the underside of the branch about a foot from the trunk.  Make this cut about a third of the diameter of the branch.  If you’re pruning a large branch  remove limbs farther out to lighten the load.

    Second Cut

    Cut from the top of the branch about half-inch to an inch outside the first cut.  The undercut you made in step one will prevent the bark from peeling and damaging the trunk as the branch falls.

    Third Cut

    Now it is time to make the most important cut at the trunk of the tree or shrub.  There are two parts of the tree you should know about at this phase.

    Branch Bark Ridge – The ridged line of bark along the crotch of the tree.

    Branch Collar – The swollen growth along the branch.

    Your goal is to cut the branch just outside the branch collar and never cut into the branch bark ridge so the cut will heal quickly and seal out insects, disease and moisture.

    I look for the swollen part of the branch and try to prune just outside.

    If you cut into the Branch Bark Ridge of Branch Collar you can injure the callous tissue of the tree and it may never close the wound, exposing the tree to disease and rot.

    Conclusion

    If you take a little extra time to do it right your trees and shrubs will thrive.  Be sure your pruning tools are sharp, it reduces the effort involved and improves  your cuts.  Now go out and have fun!

    By John Holden

  • Front Yard Landscape Design by an Oxford CT Landscaper

    Front Yard Landscape Design by an Oxford CT Landscaper

    The video above is a beautiful colonial in Oxford CT where we were the landscaper of choice.  I hope you enjoy the tour of this lovely home.

  • What’s Your Dream?

    What’s Your Dream?

    This week I was pondering what makes me happy.  How do I find joy?

    Many of the things that make me happy as an adult were the same things that made me happy when I was a kid.

    Some of the things on my “Happy List” are:

    • A good conversation
    • Splitting wood
    • My children smiling
    • Listening up beat music
    • Going to a good movie
    • My cat sitting on my lap
    • Shoveling a light snow
    • Listening to the rain while seated outside
    • Going for a drive to clear my head
    • A sharp chain saw
    • Walking around my yard and seeing the changes in the gardens
    • Walking through a forest
    • Organizing things such as my office, the garage and my truck
    • A pink sunset

    What makes you happy?

    By John Holden

  • How I Got My Groove – The Stages of a Landscape Design Career

    How I Got My Groove – The Stages of a Landscape Design Career

    Unlike now, when I graduated UCONN I didn’t have real-world landscape design experience.

    I designed landscapes by the book and my designs incorporated the latest cool plants at the nursery.  If the book said a plant grows in the shade to 10 feet tall I put it in the shade where it could grow to 10 feet tall.

    I talked with associates and read magazine articles about new plants.  I still do because there’s always room for improvement.  The palette of plants to choose from is constantly changing.

    After designing, installing and watching my landscapes grow in for over 20 years I have more experience than most in my field.

    Sometimes, even though the book says a plant grows in the shade it just sits there neither living nor dying.  Arborvitae planted in late fall are going to suffer from winter’s drying winds.  Over-planted landscapes fill in quickly and are a ton of work to keep up.  Landscape construction never goes exactly according to plan and small changes are a natural part of the process.

    My design style is “Form follows function.”  I abhor complexity for simpler is always better.  I like focal points but don’t overdo it.  Viewers get headaches from bedazzled landscapes.

    Landscape design and installation is an art and subject to interpretation by the designer and installer.  Seemingly small differences, like those above, make a big difference in your project.  You can talk to five landscape designers and get five completely different landscape designs.  You can then give that design to five different landscape contractors and get five different landscapes.

    I hope you choose wisely when hiring your landscape designer or landscape contractor.

    By John Holden

  • You Can Talk About it or You Can Keep It To Yourself

    You Can Talk About it or You Can Keep It To Yourself

    I went to a meeting last night for parents of Sandy Hook School children.

    The leader of the discussion had a great insight on poor behavior.  When he was a child he would start arguments when something bothered him.

    When he did, his mom very calmly said, “You can talk about it or you can keep it to yourself.  You’re not taking it out on someone else.”

    What a great way to focus on the real problem.

  • Selectively Pruning Evergreen Shrubs – Part 2

    Selectively Pruning Evergreen Shrubs – Part 2


     
    In the first part of this series I showed you how to selectively prune evergreen shrubs.  Now I’d like to show you one of the greatest benefits of this pruning method.

    By selectively pruning your evergreen shrubs you can control their height indefinitely.  Every time you prune you are cutting into the shrub, so the shrub stays the same size, or gets smaller, with pruning.

    Measure Twice, Cut Once

    In the video above I show you the results of a Japanese Holly that was heavily pruned.  The shrub bounced back quickly and within four months all signs of pruning were gone.

    I don’t recommend people new to pruning start with such an extreme example.  If unsure how your shrub will respond prune some of the branches deep into the shrub.  If they don’t grow back there will be enough other branches to fill in.

    I have Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata) growing in deep shade and the shrubs are extremely leggy.  Using selective pruning on these holly won’t make them more dense, there isn’t enough light.  The shrubs still look better because the growth is at different levels of the shrub, not all at the tip.

    What About Flowering Evergreen Shrubs?

    You can selectively prune flowering evergreens too.  The key is to prune right after bloom.  If you prune a flowering evergreen, such as a rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.), that blooms on the last seasons growth too late you can remove the next years blooms.

    I hope you’ll try selective pruning, your shrubs will be glad you did.

    By John Holden

     

  • Selectively Pruning Evergreen Shrubs – Part 1

    Selectively Pruning Evergreen Shrubs – Part 1

    Why do people get out their hedge shears once a year, usually during the heat of June or July, and prune their evergreen shrubs like a new recruit in the army?  Yes Virginia, there is a better way!

    If you want healthy, attractive and easy to care for evergreen shrubs try selective pruning.

    Benefits of Selectively Pruning Evergreen Shrubs

    Selective pruning has many benefits.

    • Your shrubs will have a natural look, and be more forgiving of pruning mistakes.
    • Your shrubs will have an open habit to allow more air and light to enter, resulting in less insects and disease.
    • You can control your shrubs height indefinitely.

    How to Selectively Prune Evergreen Shrubs

    You can selectively prune many evergreen shrubs, such as:

    • Boxwood (Buxus)
    • Holly (Ilex)
    • Yew (Taxus)
    • Andromeda (Pieris)

    Do heavy pruning in late spring to early summer and continue with minor pruning throughout the season.

    Use a sharp pair of pruning shears to cut the branches at varying lengths throughout the shrub, try not cut them all on one plane.

    Prune with the result in mind, knowing what you want the shrub to look like.  Then, one branch at a time, thin out the branches by cutting them back into the shrub.  Your goal is to cut the branch where there’s new growth or back to a crossing branch.  Work your way around the shrub pruning some branches a little below your desired height and some branches way inside the shrub.

    I begin pruning where the foliage is most dense and cut some branches deep into the shrub to allow air and light to enter.

    Next, I work my way toward the outside of the shrub cutting some branches about half way.

    Finally, I level out the ends of most branches to give the shrub a loosely manicured look.

    Take your time and everything will be fine.  The beauty of selective pruning is that if you make a mistake there will be other branches to fill in.

    I have trained many on this pruning method and assure you it’s normal to be a little nervous the first time you do it.  Take your time.  After a few shrubs you’ll get the hang of it.  By the end of the season you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with a hedge trimmer.

    By John Holden