Paging through an English garden magazine recently, I saw a column devoted to the snowdrop chapter of the unwritten garden rule book.\u00a0 Traditional wisdom holds that snowdrops should only be divided and transplanted \u201cin the green\u201d\u2014just as the blooms fade in early spring.\u00a0 Many snowdrop growers have followed that rule since the beginning of time\u2014or at least the beginning of cultivated snowdrops\u2014and it is very successful.\u00a0 It makes sense too.\u00a0 Snowdrops are spring ephemerals, meaning that all traces of them disappear within four to six weeks of the time they finish blooming.\u00a0 When snowdrops are \u201cin the green,\u201d they are visible, which makes it a lot easier to lift the clumps of tiny bulbs and separate them.<\/p>\n
The author of the column argued that rules don\u2019t have to be hard and fast.\u00a0 In fact snowdrops can be lifted and divided any time except when the ground is frozen.\u00a0 If you can find the clump and dig around it without injuring the bulbs; you can divide it.\u00a0 This is helpful, especially if you, like many of us, generally have too much to do in the garden, not to mention outside its boundaries.\u00a0 The key is common sense.\u00a0 If you think you will want to divide your snowdrops after their annual vanishing act, mark their location with small stakes or take a picture of the spot, including enough nearby identifiers so you can find it accurately.\u00a0 By taking that quick step, you have given yourself the freedom to divide with impunity and your snowdrops will be none the worse for it.<\/p>\n
The snowdrop column made me think about other garden rules and the wisdom of breaking them on occasion.\u00a0 I came up with several.<\/p>\n
Zone Hardiness: <\/strong>The United States Department of Agriculture publishes the \u201cPlant Hardiness Zone Map,\u201d a helpful guide that shows the average annual minimum temperature for all regions of the United States.\u00a0 The lower the zone number, the colder the area. \u00a0Plant breeders and vendors use the zone numbers to provide guidelines to wholesale growers and retail customers.\u00a0 It is a great tool.\u00a0 However, every region and every garden has microclimates.\u00a0 If you happen to have a protected spot or spots where the snow melts first and weeds appear in spring before they pop up in other parts of the garden, you might be able to support a plant that is not technically hardy in your zone.\u00a0 For example, if you live in USDA Zone 6, your sunny protected spot might be able to support something listed as only being hardy to Zone 7.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be intimidated by numbers.\u00a0 Try that plant\u2014provided it doesn\u2019t cost a million dollars–mulch it well and give it supplemental water during dry spells.\u00a0 Protect it during the first winter.\u00a0 You will probably be surprised at its hardiness.<\/p>\n Pruning: <\/strong>There are so many unwritten, set-in-cement shrub pruning rules that many people are afraid to prune at all.\u00a0 This is why you see rhododendrons the size of wooly mammoths, octopus-like forsythia and hollies threatening to subsume entire houses.\u00a0 If bushes flower, refrain from pruning them until the flowers fade.\u00a0 Prune by one third under normal conditions, one half if things are slightly out of hand and two thirds if the shrub is already eating pets, small children and large garden tools.\u00a0 Sharp tools work better than dull ones.\u00a0 You can prune any time the urge strikes you, except before flowering shrubs flower.\u00a0 You can prune at that time as well, you will just miss a year of blossoms.\u00a0 Try to give the shrub a pleasing shape, but if you make mistakes remember that even radical pruning will not kill a healthy shrub.<\/p>\n Mid-Summer: <\/strong>Garden pundits always tell you to avoid doing most things\u2014planting, transplanting, pruning\u2014in mid-summer because the high heat and absence of moisture will stress the plants.\u00a0 The pundits are right, but if mid-summer is the only time available to do those chores, carry on.\u00a0 You will simply have to give lots of water to new plants and transplants and mulch them thoroughly.\u00a0 If a new plant is showing signs of stress from Sahara-like sunshine, arrange some shade for it.\u00a0 Pruning is hard for human beings in summer, but plants, if carefully tended, will take it in stride.\u00a0 Drip irrigation helps almost all plants, including transplants and the newly pruned, get through the heat.\u00a0 Soaker hoses are inexpensive, hook up to your garden hose and can be put on timers so that your plants will be cool and comfortable while you are toiling away in the occupational salt mines.<\/p>\n When I first set up house on my own, I was convinced that God would strike me dead if I didn\u2019t dust the baseboards once a week.\u00a0 Clearly that was not true, because I am still alive.\u00a0 Having broken a good many domestic and gardening rules in my time, I can say with authority that you will not be struck by lightening if you transplant your snowdrops in August.\u00a0 Respect the rules, but don\u2019t be afraid to embrace the exceptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paging through an English garden magazine recently, I saw a column devoted to the snowdrop chapter of the unwritten garden rule book.\u00a0 Traditional wisdom holds that snowdrops should only be divided and transplanted \u201cin the green\u201d\u2014just as the blooms fade in early spring.\u00a0 Many snowdrop growers have followed that rule since the beginning of time\u2014or … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,3],"tags":[538,537,81,370,331],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-galathus","tag-garden-rules","tag-pruning","tag-snowdrops","tag-transplanting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}