The Gardening Nerd

The Gardening Nerd A Do-It-Yourselfer's coaching service for people who want to create their own home landscape!

The rule of thumb is to prune flowering trees and shrubs right after they bloom and this branch illustrates why that is ...
09/06/2026

The rule of thumb is to prune flowering trees and shrubs right after they bloom and this branch illustrates why that is a good idea. The buds of next spring's flowers are easy to see now, but they have been there in tiny infancy for awhile. New blooms begin forming after the blooms for the current season fade. If you wait months after the bloom period to prune your flowering trees and shrubs, you will likely remove some of its blooms for next season.

That said, your schedule may not jive with a plant's blooming time frame. Life gets busy. Know that you may remove some flower buds if you prune later. Be observant when you do prune and you can learn to distinguish between leaf buds and flower buds. The flower buds are generally more plump than a typical leaf bud.

Over at The Gardening Nerd page, I posted a more detailed account with pix on this topic several years ago. I have been populating that page from Instagram mostly, but there are many longer nerd rants on Facebook. đŸ˜„

Trees are really big weeds. You can see a big difference taking out six or seven, but they will sprout again fairly qu...
05/22/2026

Trees are really big weeds. You can see a big difference taking out six or seven, but they will sprout again fairly quickly. To keep them from coming back, you can treat the stumps with herbicide. It is tricky to do when they are among plants you want to keep! Using a small sponge, like a narrow foam brush or dauber, with full strength herbicide on the stumps can do the trick. In theory, you could cut the trees back repeatedly and diligently so they wouldn't have the energy to come back.

Such big weeds can hide some sinister culprits! Look carefully before you dive in! There's poison ivy by the Camelia. I think there is enough space that I can apply herbicide to the leaves without touching the other plants.

Happy weeding!

Another balloon flower volunteer! This one is in the path to the hose reel so I have been trying to work around it. Th...
05/22/2026

Another balloon flower volunteer! This one is in the path to the hose reel so I have been trying to work around it. Those little buds at the top of the picture will grow into blue balloons right before they open. Since they selfseed, they can pop-up here and there!

A hardworking bee!
05/22/2026

A hardworking bee!

This plant showed up in my front planting bed about the time the beggars lice plant did. I thought it was pretty with s...
05/22/2026

This plant showed up in my front planting bed about the time the beggars lice plant did. I thought it was pretty with stalks of dainty blue flowers. So, just like the beggars lice, I let it do its thing for the most part. I had no idea what it was until my gardening friend Joyce Love showed me some native plants she helped rescue. Don't worry! It will get the advantage over that ivy next to it!

Variegated foliage really brightens shady areas and showoff well in the evening. It is passed the "golden hour" but the...
05/22/2026

Variegated foliage really brightens shady areas and showoff well in the evening. It is passed the "golden hour" but the white is quite crisp. It's about to bloom!

As crazy as it may seem, a lot of the weeds in my flowerbeds are volunteer trees from nuts a squirrel planted or seeds ...
05/13/2026

As crazy as it may seem, a lot of the weeds in my flowerbeds are volunteer trees from nuts a squirrel planted or seeds a bird planted via its p**p. I cut them off at the base and intend to treat the little stumps with a herbicide but rarely make it back around. So, I have to whack off the new sprouts and so on and so on! Since they are so big as weeds go, you can at least see a big difference after tackling just a few of them.

I like little surprises in the lawn! I have no idea how it got there. I have been known to toss bulbs that look dried ...
05/13/2026

I like little surprises in the lawn! I have no idea how it got there. I have been known to toss bulbs that look dried out over my shoulder and keep moving. Rain lilies do bloom after a good rain and will repeat bloom. A container full of them is quite cheery. Pink ones are easy to find but they also come in white and yellow.

Variegation always brightens a shady corner. I really like this plant. Instead of ball-shaped blooms, it has lacecap ...
05/13/2026

Variegation always brightens a shady corner. I really like this plant. Instead of ball-shaped blooms, it has lacecap ones. I will try to "clone" it by rooting cuttings.

This is the first time I have seen cyclamen offered as annual bedding plants. In Walmart no less! Marked down to $2, i...
04/20/2026

This is the first time I have seen cyclamen offered as annual bedding plants. In Walmart no less! Marked down to $2, i think I will try the idea in a planter or two mixed in with the perenniels that overwonter.

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