Mid-summer is the perfect time to trim shrubs that flower in late spring or early summer. A July prune can promote better structure, cleaner growth, and even a second bloom. Plus, it’s the ideal ...

If Walt Whitman had lived in California, he might have written, "When ceanothus last in the dooryard bloom'd," for in California, it is the ceanothus that marks the "ever-returning spring." A native ...

California native plants are getting more attention these days. More nurseries, including our local Cherry Valley Nursery, are now carrying them. But many people don’t realize California natives have ...

Once established, avoid pruning. On very young plants, pinch out the soft young shoots in spring to make bushier specimens. If necessary, trim over-long flowering shoots by half with a pair of sharp ...

Pruning is the process of selectively removing branches from a tree or shrubs. The goal is to remove unwanted branches which may be dead or diseased, to help improve the structure of the shrub or tree ...

Not having a ceanothus in the garden would be unthinkable, yet they are not the most accommodating of plants. For one thing, they die. Regularly described as “short-lived”, they turn up their toes and ...

Helen Birks is in a bit of a quandary about her spring-flowering ceanothus (variety unknown) that she says has suffered from last winter’s extremes. It is about 8ft high, and spread in an umbrella ...