Pruning Hedges Around My Pool
Another good pruning job is in progress at my Bedford, New York farm - this time, on the hedges surrounding my swimming pool.
Around the outside of the pool fence, I have a hedge of two dark-colored burgundy-black leafed specimens - Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple' shrubs. Both are fast-growing shrubs that create a natural enclosure around the pool area. My resident tree expert, Pasang Sherpa, started pruning the hedges yesterday - a task I like to do once a year to keep them healthy and looking their best.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- I wanted my pool area to look as natural as possible, where I could enjoy the gardens and panoramic views of the landscape with my family and friends.
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- Earlier this year, I planted six Ginkgo biloba Goldspire™ Obelisk trees around the pool. I also have some potted fan palms positioned along the pool’s edge.
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- Mixed in are some potted agaves. I always take out many of my tropical plants and display them in beautiful ornamental urns around the farm during summer.
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- There is also lush green lawn on all four sides of the pool. All surrounded by the necessary pool fence disguised by tall hedges. The inside hedge is made of columnar beech trees. These are fastigiate meaning their branches slope upward more or less parallel to the main stem.
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- On this day, Adan Morales, my mower extraordinaire, cuts the pool lawn using our STIHL RM 655 VS push mower. This 21-inch gas powered mower provides really sharp, accurate cutting and easy bagging. It’s perfect to use in this enclosed area.
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- I chose these Physocarpus and Cotinus shrubs for the outside. These have grown quite a bit since last year – it’s hard to see the beech trees behind them.
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- They’re planted alternately and close together to create a hedge and to add interest. They can grow up to two feet per year.
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- Physocarpus is commonly called ninebark, and is an upright, spreading, somewhat coarse, deciduous, Missouri-native shrub which is closely related to the genus Spiraea. It boasts a deep burgundy foliage with ovate to rounded, usually three to five lobed leaves that are dull green in summer changing to an undistinguished yellow in fall. Then its color veers toward bronzy red by the time the leaves fall in late November.
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- After the white flowers of the physocarpus bloom, what follows are these seed pods – a favorite food of small birds.
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- Also known as smoketree or smoke bush, Cotinus is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The foliage turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.
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- In fact, the name “smoke bush” comes from this – the billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters which remain in place through the summer, turning a smoky pink to purplish-pink.
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- Pasang starts to prune the outside shrubs. Pruning means to lop or cut off any superfluous branches or shoots for better-shape and better growth. These look fuller every year – in part because of our regular pruning and grooming.
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- Pasang cuts off any dead or crisscrossing branches first. The rule of thumb when pruning is to cut the dead, diseased, damaged, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted plant material.
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- Pasang also grooms the bottom of the hedge – shaping and removing unnecessary branches. All shrubs can benefit from pruning every other year or so to maintain their shape, improve air circulation, and encourage new growth.
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- Pasang uses his Okatsune hand pruners. Pruning shears, hand pruners, or secateurs are a type of scissors used on plants. They are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to an inch thick. Everyone on the crew has a pair.
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- Here’s a look after a section of it is cut – it looks so much better. They’re the perfect height and disguises the fence very well – in fact, I instructed Pasang to cut them as tall as the fence – one cannot see it at all.
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- It doesn’t take long for the ground to fill with clippings.
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- Always work on a tarp to collect the cuttings. This makes cleaning up fast and efficient.
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- Here is one section of the outside hedge all done. One can see the beautiful layers of both the inside hedge and the outside hedge.
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- I’ve worked hard to develop the pool’s surroundings and am so pleased with how well everything has grown. This is one of my favorite summertime areas of the farm.
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