Trees and shrubs are the backbone of your landscape. They are used as screens, backgrounds and accents. Trees are used for shade, and for fruit. Flowering shrubs provide long lasting, beautiful blooms which brighten even the gloomiest of days.

Because the cultural needs, the size, and the structure can vary so greatly within different varieties of the same species of trees and shrubbery, I recommend visiting a local botanical garden or arboretum before deciding on your choices. Even a leisurely stroll through your own neighborhood will provide you with a great deal of insight into what you like, and what grows well in your area. Trees and shrubs live and grow for many years, so the effort is well worth the time that it takes. (Besides, it's a great way to spend the day!)

Azaleas

Azaleas can be very fussy about their growing conditions.. They MUST have acid soil with a Ph of 5.0 to 6.5. They do NOT like clay soils. The first thing I would do would be to get your Ph tested. There are inexpensive test kits available, which will easily and quickly tell you the Ph of your soil. Many nurseries will test your Ph for free. If the soil is alkaline at all, your Azaleas will be unable to access the necessary nutrients and elements vital to their health. It will be necessary for you to add a considerable amount of peat moss, and other organic matter to the soil. The addition of the course builders sand,peat moss, ground bark, sawdust, compost, or other organic amendments will also help to break up the clay texture, and help to aerate the soil. Be sure to feed your Azaleas with an acid type Rhododendron fertilizer..

When you plant Azaleas or Rhododendrons, they should be placed in the ground so that their root ball is slightly higher than the surrounding soil. They will not do well if soil is pushed up against the trunk. (Could this be the problem?)

Azaleas can be planted at any time of the year, even if they are in bloom but it is best to plant them in the early fall so they have a chance to adjust to their new home before winter freezes.
When you are shopping for an azalea, there are many factors to consider. Whether it is sold in a pot with it's rootball wrapped in burlap is of little consequence, nor is the size of the plant. Many nurseries provide tags on their plants which will tell you the name and blooming period, as well as the eventual size of the plant and how cold hardy it is. Some have fragrant flowers (mainly Exbury azaleas). Azaleas can be low growing, and never reach a height of more than two feet, but others can grow as tall twelve feet. You can use these facts to your advantage and purchase plants that will give you an extended blooming season by choosing a few of the very earliest blooming and a few late flowering varieties. Plantings can also be staggered by size. It is best to buy plants which have been grown out of doors locally, which pretty much insures that the plant is hardy in your area.
Azaleas must be grown in an acid soil, with a pH of 5.0 to 6.5. They will not tolerate lime. Many nurseries will test your soil pH for free,, and give you recomendations. Try to plant azaleas in an area which receives a few hours of morning sun, but receives at least partial shade during the very hottest part of the day. Dig your planting hole twice as wide and 1 1/2 times as deep as the rootball. Mix compost and peat moss into the soil, and if is necessary for drainage, add in course builders sand or grit. When you remove the plant from the pot, use your fingers to loosen up the roots a little to get them to grow into the new soil. Set the plant so that the soil level is the same as it was previously growing at. Sprinkle a small amount of rhododendron food into the hole at the dripline of the plant. Fill in the hole and water it very thoroughly. Azaleas resent drying out, so use some kind of mulch to conserve moisture in the soil. You can use leaves, bark, compost or whatever.
The buds for next years blooms will be formed this year, so it important that the faded blooms are removed, otherwise you will not get a flower on that stem next year. Rhododendron food should be applied after the plant has finished blooming. Pruning consists mainly of removing the spent flowers, and cutting back longer branches which may spoil the symmetry of the plant.

Year round bloom.To have flowers in bloom all year long will take planning on your part, using a combination of shrubs, bulbs, annuals and perennials. Annuals Put out a large number of beautiful flowers all summer, but they complete their life cycle from seed to flower to seed again, all within one year. (zinnias, marigolds, petunias......) Perennials are plants which have a more limited blooming period, but they live and bloom year after year. (carnations, columbine, chrysanthemums....) Here again nursery tags can be very helpful. You can find plants which will flower during any month of the year, and combine them to create a year round flower show.

Rose

Roses are very heavy feeders, so you should feed them as soon as the new growth appears, and then then again after the first heavy bloom using a 5-10-5 fertilizer or commercial rose food. The how and when of pruning roses is pretty much determined by the type of rose that you are dealing with, so I will try to cover them all. Sucker growth (stems which originate from below the budding union) should always be removed at their point of origin no matter which type of rose. Pruning cuts should always be made 1/4 to 1/2 inch above an outward facing bud. Make your cuts at a 45 degree angle to prevent moisture from collecting on the cut, which will cause rot or disease. Always use a clean, sharp pair of shears.

Pruning Hybrid Tea Roses
Prune hybrid tea roses in early spring when the new growth just begins to show. Start by removing old, winter damaged or diseased wood, cutting it back to a healthy point. You will want to create a somewhat cup shaped plant by removing center stems, and branches pointing inwards. This will admit more light and fresh air, and help to prevent mildew and disease. Cut the remaining stems to about 1/2 of their original length, leaving the stronger stems longer than the younger, thin ones. Hard pruning will result in fewer long stemmed blooms than light pruning, but if it necessary you can cut some of the older stems back to within 6 inches of the base.

Pruning Floribundas and Grandifloras
Prune this type of rose in early spring. Remove all criss-crossed stems, and cut the remaining stems at various lengths leaving the center stems longer than the outer ones to form the desired shaped plant. Pruning the canes at different lengths will help to insure continuous blooming.

Pruning Ramblers
Ramblers grow a completely new set of blooming canes each year. The flowers are formed on year old canes, which should be cut back to within 2-3 inches of their base when they are finished blooming. This will allow the plant to devote its energy into producing the new shoots that will bear the next years flowers.

Pruning Climbers
Climbing roses resent hard pruning.In early spring, remove any dead or diseased canes, other than that you should only do light pruning. Climbers should be trained to grow in a more fan shaped pattern rather than upward growth. If it becomes necessary, the canes can be shortened at any time of the year.

Pruning Miniature Roses
Miniature roses need very little pruning. Just prune them to the desired shape. Cut any new shoots which have emerged from below the soil line to about 1/2 its length. When the branches finish flowering, cut them back to a new outward facing bud.

Pruning Hydrangeas
The French hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, blooms from the previous years buds, and should be pruned in the summer when the blooms have faded. Most hydrangeas bloom on new wood so if you decide to cut your plant back now, I would think that it will send new buds again, but I can't promise you that. Since it isn't necessary to prune hydrangeas every year, I think that if it were my plant, I would snip any dead branches, and possibly do a little shaping, but otherwise let the plant go ahead on its own schedule.

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