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Saturday, 11 February 2012 01:00

Written by Doug Oster

Winter is the best time to prune many trees and shrubs. Avoid spring bloomers like rhododendrens, azaleas and forcythia as their buds are in place and cutting them off would sacrafice this years blooms. Pines and maples should not be pruned either, they have running sap and are best dealt with during the growing season.

The AccuSharp sharpener is an inexpensive and rugged tool to keep pruners and other tools sharp. Click on the link in the story to find a local retailer.

To keep them sharp I use a tool called AccuSharp as demonstrated in the Digging with Doug video (right hand of the page in the viewer). I've used the tool for over 20 years and I love it for sharpening things in the garden and kitchen.

Take your time when pruning, look for crossing branches and it's important to try to keep the natural shape of the plant. Here's a pretty good guide to pruning, but it's one of those things that you just learn in the garden.

Here's a wonderful list of plants that have been used by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy that have proven themselves to be unattractive to deer. That doesn't mean your herd won't eat them, but trial and error will offer many answers.

Perennials

Mountain Mint         Pycananthemum muticum

Yarrow                         Achillea millefolium (various cutivars)

Salvia ‘May Night’   Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night’

Black Eyed Susan   Rudbeckia fulgirda

Bearded Iris               Iris germanica (various cultivars)

Golden-alexander  Zizia aurea

Virginia Willow          Itea virginica

Annuals

Salvia ‘Victoria Blue’

Zinnia ‘Profusion Cherry’

Ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’

Dusty Miller

Celosia ‘Fresh Look Red’

Marigold

Alyssum

This blog post from the PPC has more tips, ideas and details for dealing with the deer.

Here are some other plants that aren't getting eaten in my garden. Just remember though, each herd eats differently-

Tithonia (Mexican sunflower)

Siberian iris

Forcythia

Anemone

Anise Hyssop

Dahlias

Azalea and Rhododendrons

Perennial hibiscus

Rose of Sharon

There are lots of different products that can be sprayed on plants like hostas that the deer love. Bobbex really has worked well in my garden.

Comments (1)

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written by GarDen, February 16, 2012 - 10:48 AM

Doug - The AccuSharp sharpeners in the photo appear to be the same as the one I use, which is intended only for double ground edges. The cutting edges on by-pass type pruners are single ground, and therefore should be sharpened from one side only. Unless one holds the Accusharp sharpener at an odd angle and uses it in an unintended way, it is not the right tool for properly sharpening by-pass pruners.

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