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If you have questions or comments regarding subjects covered in this issue, or to suggest topics for future issues,  feel free to email:

terrence@

websteringersoll.com

To schedule a complimentary consultation and evaluation  

 of all your landscape care needs, call 413.229.8124.

Danger overhead

However, what may be a mere horticultural setback at the scale of the shrub or crabapple can manifest as an imminent threat to life and property when present at the scale of a canopy tree.  During this period of cold spring, before flowers and foliage begin to obscure the view, one is well advised to take stock of the health of any particularly important trees on one's property, with special attention to any that could pose hazards to structures, vehicles, pathways and gathering spaces.  If you do not know what to look for, consult a landscape professional for an evaluation of arbor health and hazard assessment.

Kinder, gentler spring clean-up 

After having been penned up for months, it is tempting to attack all of your landscape tasks at once, but it is safer and more efficient to prioritize the tasks that are most timely - namely, pruning and light clean up of debris - rather than allowing irrational enthusiasm to get the better of us.  The soil, and by extension, everything that depends directly on it for life, is in a period of extraordinary transition during early spring (what we hill folk call mud season), and it is exceedingly unwise to tread upon planting beds until they have fully thawed and sufficiently drained, essentially reawakened and recharged with metabolic activity.

During this time, it is perfectly acceptable to rake lightly from outside the margins of planting beds to sneak in some timely clean up before bulbs spring forth, but one can do real damage by treading within beds when the soil is still soft, undoing years of soil-building toil in an instant of clumsy eagerness.  The same issues apply to lawn areas as well; while it is fine to lightly rake up winter debris, and as tempting as it may be to vigorously rake out matted turf, bear in mind that turfgrass is easily injured at this time of year - and act with suitable restraint with implement, vehicle, and footfall alike, avoiding saturated areas entirely.

While conditions vary widely due to elevation, microclimate, exposure, drainage, soil type, and spring weather, it is generally safe to begin cultivating, planting, or otherwise invading the soil matrix within two to three weeks of the ground having fully thawed.  In terms of our calendar, cultivation can usually begin by the third week of April.

Don't stampede into spring clean-up; a well-considered strategy will prevent unnecessary compaction of garden soils.

Stay out of beds in early spring.  Many clean-up tasks can be accomplished with basic implements that extend the gardener's reach.

Timely Tasks for April

• Fruit tree pruning ............................................................. before bud break
• Dormant oil applications (fruit trees) .......................... before bud break  
• Lawn fertilization (first application) ....................................... by April 30th
• Lawn seeding ........................................................................ after April 21st

 

• Spring clean-up of garden beds .......... after soil has thawed/drained
• Garden bed fertilization ............................................. following clean-up
• Garden bed mulching ................................................ following clean-up
• Compost top-dressing of garden beds .................... following clean-up

Compost: ambrosia terrae

The process that brings debris into contact with the earth is a vital part of the nutrient cycle, and we ought to realize the consequences of interrupting its intent.  Gardens can be, in a way, something both of nature and apart from nature depending on our own particular, individual expectations of appearance, and demand a level of maintenance that often includes a convoluted, interrupted nutrient cycle.

However, with the use of low-impact, sustainable materials and proper timing, even this more refined level of maintenance can be achieved with minimal disruption of nature.  Consider on-site composting as a means of minimizing trucking costs associated with your landscape.  It saves money, fuel, and in time creates healthy, rich humus that recharges garden soil when applied as a top-dressing.  If you contribute your grass clippings, food waste, wood ashes, and biodegradable sundries (unbleached paper products, including egg cartons) to your compost pile, you add several factors which can help to speed decomposition - and reduce your trash bill and your personal contribution to the waste stream otherwise destined for incineration, abiotic entombment in a landfill, or worse yet, an ocean gyre.

Non-naturalized, traditional gardens benefit greatly from a generous top-dressing of compost every few years to revitalize and aerate congested and compacted soils.  In situations in which one has very infertile soil or is seeking to remediate a poorly prepared planting bed, top-dressing should be performed annually, in autumn or spring, until performance has achieved the desired level.  Annual landscapes, whether edible, ornamental, or some combination thereof have especially intensive nutrient demands and ought to receive a hearty supplement of compost annually, and often with even greater frequency for optimal performance of heavily-feeding crops.

Learn your limits

One should also be quite conscious of where the cultivated landscape ends, and not give oneself over to the obsessive tendency to scour the forest of every trunk, branch, stump and leaf.  Those wooded landscapes that have been so manicured as to appear to have been vacuumed by a crack force of over-caffeinated Sutton Place domestic workers are disturbing not only because they look so unnatural but mostly because they are so unnatural.  There is little hope for the long-term health of these trees, deprived as they are of the nutrients that are the final remains of the their own gift to the earth, once all the ever-decreasing orders of organisms have processed the leaves, wood, and bark that comprise that regular contribution.  If you are surrounded by woodlands and feel the need to reduce the mess a bit, try to limit your interventions to the first 15 or 20 feet in from the woods' edge; remaining debris will provide important food and habitat for a variety of organisms, including moss, which will likely cloak it within a year or two. 

Spring exposé!

The current period of transition from winter to spring also vividly exposes notable problems and opportunities in the landscape.  Most important in terms of our infrastructure and ability to easily move about our landscapes is drainage, unglamorous a topic though it may seem.  In the late winter and early spring, recurrent or latent drainage issues are most likely to manifest, and the evidence of these failures provides useful information for crafting enduring solutions that address problems as close to their source as possible, thereby minimizing the likelihood of recurrence, and obviating the possibility of secondary issues that could have developed from the original problem if left unaddressed in the long term.

With no pun intended, what may appear on the surface to be drainage problems can often present opportunities for creative, responsible, sustainable landscaping.  An area with wet soil, whether by nature or as a result of human intervention, can become a garden that never needs watering, provides habitat and food to birds, amphibians, and beneficial insects, and acts as a genetic reservoir for native plant species.  Additionally, interesting design possibilities abound for applications of native stone when used in drainage courses and permeable hardscape surfaces, especially around structures, where a sharper aesthetic is usually preferable.

It has been said that water finds its own level, a truism that is vague enough to be accurate in consideration of water's unique physical properties - which we see mainly evidenced by the weird, wonderful, and sometimes maddeningly destructive things it can do in its solid phase of ice.  Examining drainage issues in the spring allows a landscape professional to understand, account for, and remediate the effects of ice impeding and redirecting water, above and below grade.  Drainage issues are also handled most cost-effectively in early spring, as soon as the earth can be worked - and before torrential spring and summer rains can wreak their havoc, via flooding of structures or erosion of infrastructure such driveways and culverts.  Proper drainage and stormwater management are essential foundations of a well-designed, functioning, and sustainable landscape.

Tall-growing ephemerals such as Eremurus robustus (left) and Fritillaria raddeana (right) burst forth as soon as snow recedes, shooting skyward at mind-boggling rates of growth.

In our next issue:

Hands to Earth 

Digging into a new season  

While you are thinking of spring...

Bear in mind that this season presents one of the best opportunities for establishing new plantings of trees, shrubs and perennials; transplanting existing material; pruning woody ornamentals; removing invasive plants; correcting drainage problems; starting new projects; and, of course, spring clean-up. 

Call us today at (413) 229-8124 for a complimentary consultation.  

Webster-Ingersoll, Inc. is a Landscape Contracting company based in the Southern Berkshires of  Western Massachusetts.  We serve the Berkshires as well as Litchfield County, CT and Columbia County, NY.   We are a team of dedicated professionals who bring creativity, ingenuity and quality to our projects.  Our vision is to honor our community by using environmentally conscious and sustainable practices.