| Interview: Spiral-Cut Evergreens |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-108 |
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If you clip the hedge in your yard and prune the shrubs the same way year-round, it might be time for a change, says Ask DIY Gardening Expert Jesse Mack Burns. She recommends spiral-cutting evergreens -- whether in the ground or in a pot (figure A) -- for the patio, doorstep or living room. You can cut any type of evergreen into a spiral pattern, says Burns. Use garden gloves, string, and handheld clippers and follow these steps: - Tie a string to the top of the tree and then wrap it loosely around the tree, Christmas-light-style, to serve as a guide for the cutting. You'll cut the branches on either side of the string, not those below it.
- Spin the tree as you drape the string, to make sure all the sides look nice, and make sure the string slants at an appropriate angle as you wrap it.
- Put on gardening gloves and get a grip on your handheld clippers. Look for a place to start near the top, holding open a space between the branches. Clip the branches on either side of the string (figure B), first clipping the ends and then working your way in.
- Continue cutting, trying to get the spiral to the point where you can see some space between the branches at first; then go back to cut the branches all the way down to the trunk.
Nobody's perfect: Don't worry about making wrong cuts. The branches will grow back, or you can always hide the bad spot in the back. - Pound fertilizer spikes into the soil below the outside tips of the branches, also known as the "drip line."
Web site resources for Spiral Gardening: Spiral of Beans from Taunton.com Herb Spiral Tomato Spirals from Etera.com Herb Spiral from Suite101.com Super Spirals Pictures from Geocities.com Topiary
Books: Quick & Easy Topiary & Green Sculpture
By Jenny Hendy
Storey Publishing (1996)
Schoolhouse Rd.
Pownal, VT 05261
Phone: 802-823-5200
Fax: 802-823-5819
Web site: www.storey.com Topiary Basics: The Art of Shaping Plants in Gardens & Containers
By Margherita Lombardi
Sterling Publishing Inc.(1999)
387 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-532-7160
Fax: 212-213-2495
Customer Service Phone: 800-367-9692
Customer Service Fax: 800-542-7567
E-mail: webmaster@sterlingpub.com
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