Should i prune butterfly bush

Cutting the stems back in fall can make the shrub more vulnerable to freeze damage. The shrub will tell you when to prune by showing new, healthy looking leaves forming low, near the plant's base. Be patient, since it might not leaf out until after other perennials.

If you live in a mild climate, fall can be a good time to prune a large butterfly bush, but you also can wait until early spring. Avoid pruning after the shrub starts forming flower buds; you could remove future flowers. Deadheading spent flowers is a better approach, but not necessary in most cases. Step 1 — Look for new growth In late winter or early spring, butterfly bush leaves begin appearing low on the plant. Wait until you see several signs of healthy leaves. Step 2 — Cut just above new leaves Make a clean, angled cut just above where those healthy leaves appear.

Step 3 — Check your variety Most standard butterfly bushes B. Step 4 — Prune out dead stems Look for older, dead stems and cut them close to the ground. Step 5 — Walk around the plant Be sure to look at the plant from all angles and make lighter pruning cuts to shape it as desired. Use the same technique—based on variety—for fall pruning of butterfly bushes. Butterfly bushes grown in pots might need heavier pruning than other dwarf varieties. Pruning larger butterfly bushes to nearly ground level gives the shrub a nice, new start to its shape each year.

Finding a gift for everyone can take a toll on the lovely holiday mood! Not anymore! Nature Hills has you covered with many different holiday gifts. Not only do we love good looking landscapes, we love smiling faces!

Surprise your friends and family with unique gifts from Nature Hills. Trust us--we understand how difficult it can be to pick out the perfect gift during the holiday season! At Nature Hills, we have easy gifts that everyone will love. Our Favorite 8 Gifts for the Holidays 1. These tasty apples are beautifully presented in a fun box with easy apple recipes. You can even include a hand-written note from yourself to add a personal flare. These apples are fresh-picked and can be shipped directly to your loved one!

The best part is--this plant can be grown in all zones since this is a primarily indoor plant. This flower blooms in the winter, making it the perfect gift for the holidays! The pot is also a perfect holiday decor they can use every year. Whoever receives this will love you for the generous gift! This meat and cheese box has 3 pounds of cheese, tasty jam, crackers, summer sausage, 1 package of Pilot Knob Popcorn, and 1 pound of fudge.

Need sweet, savory, or both? This box is perfect for just about anyone! Candy Cane Azalea Wreath: Do you have a relative that decorates, decorates, and decorates for Christmas? This is the perfect gift for them! This Azalea Wreath offers cute pinky red and white flowers spiraled around a dark green wreath. This will light up any space and arrive with full blooms and buds to spare! Anyone would enjoy this, whether it be in their bedroom, office, cubicle, or kitchen!

The possibilities are endless. The style of this terrarium is sleek and natural, providing a wonderful environment for all people. This is a great example of recycling and reusing our locally sourced materials.

Paperwhite Gift Kit: This cute and easy gift is the perfect answer to your problems! The snowy white petals offered on the Ziva Paperwhite will add a lovely feel to a home or office. The bulbs can grow from inch in height.

Your loved ones will be so thankful they get to call this beautiful flower their own! We got it! This adorable little tree starts off as a great decoration for the holidays! Surprise your loved one with a real life Christmas tree! Your loved ones will be able to use this gift for years and years!

They can have family over and cook a fun, interactive meal. This pizza oven offers an extra thick cordierite fire stone, a downdrift air system, and it reaches temperatures as high as degrees! Bring on the Holidays! Now that you have the perfect gifts for all your loved ones, you can enjoy the beautiful season! As you enter the best time of the year, remember to cherish the clean air from the trees, the winter blooming flowers, and, of course, your friends and family.

We have all sorts of trees, bushes and shrubs, flowers, Happy Holidays from all of the Nature Hills team! Do you know that expanse of brick or stone in the backyard? The one with a few broken pieces, or maybe a sunken spot in the middle? Maybe it just looks boring and monotonous? Easily turn it into your own little Oasis instead of an eye-sore! You can cover it with a rug or table or instead - while it may look awful now but use your imagination. Dig that area out and, regardless of what shape it is, you can install a reflection pond, fire pit, or better yet a garden Oasis!

Mulch the area with bark mulch or decorative rock to blend it into the surrounding pavers Add lights, decor, and a water feature to complete the look. Work with the shape you have or carve out an area to your liking! Here are 4 premade design ideas to get your creative juices flowing! Heat-tolerant too, they thrive in tough conditions. Mediterranean Palm tree or Jelly Palm Tree - great tropical thrillers and tall elements and focal points. Colder growing zones can use a cold-hardy Musa Basjoo Banana Tree instead.

Plant this as filler and as your low-growing element. Firewitch Dianthus - bright, colorful, and fragrant beauties with incredible foliage! Creeping Thyme - a fantastic groundcover smothered in bold pink blooms.

Yucca - tough, hardy evergreens that add incredible textural and sculptural elements. Very drought-resistant and save your water bill! Catmint - blooming, fine-textured perennials that attract loads of beneficial pollinators. They lend a soft, fragrant blue-green foliage! Fantastic drought-resistant plants for a Xeric garden, Catmints are tough plants!

Wet Soil Patio Garden Oasis Installing French drains or gravel to help with soggy garden soil, sometimes only goes so far. You can either berm your area to lift your plant root system above the water table, or you can work with what you have and just add water plants suited to those conditions.

Utilizing a monochromatic color scheme or symmetrically spaced plants - a formal planting gives any landscape design or plant assortment a clean, polished appearance.

So go vertical with your garden planting! Add a trellis or arch for vines. Even if your problem area is not against a wall, you can add privacy to your space! By growing upright! Use plants that also produce tasty fruit and vegetables instead of landscaping plants. Columnar Fruit Trees, Dwarf Trees, or Fruiting Vines - grown on a trellis, obelisk, or other support for height and focal points Wild Strawberry Plants - wonderful groundcover with white flowers and ruby red fruit Dwarf Blueberry Bushes, Dwarf Blackberry, and Dwarf Raspberry - space-saving dwarf shrubs Herbs - flavor, scent, and color during the growing season Create a garden haven right in the middle of the pavement desert!

Plants, sculptures, water features, and mulch or decorative rock - and imagination - are all you need for a green spot right in the middle of a desert of brick! You can create something spectacular and unique without hiring a landscape architect!

Let Nature Hills Nursery help you turn problem spots into beautiful, functional nooks! Give us a call so we can help you create your own backyard Oasis! Peonies have always been a garden favorite, but bareroot Peonies are a great value and fall is a great time to plant them! As Bare Root Peony popularity continues to grow, let's familiarize everyone with how to plant them so we all have complete success that is rewarded with amazing spring blossoms!

Because who wants a peony-less spring garden? So, follow this blog along as Nature Hills outlines the 4 simple steps to planting a Bareroot Peony and gives a rundown of proper peony care once you do have the plant in the ground successfully! Choose Your Site 2. Prepare The Soil 3. Place Your Peony 4. We dig our bare root Peonies from the field in late summer removing all of the soil from the roots and then we cut the plants into uniform pieces that typically have stems.

Peonies have thick, fleshy roots and we cut off the stems. To read more about the basics of bare root plants, read our ProPlantTips Bareroot blog here! Now, back to outlining how to plant peonies: 1. We encourage you to plant your peonies as soon as you can after receiving them. The best time for Bare Root Peonies to be planted is in the fall when the air is cool and the soil is warm. This way the plants can make new roots before the ground freezes and that gives them a jump on spring!

Choosing the right site with enriched soil is very important as Peonies bloom more and more prolifically if left undisturbed to grow in the same location for many years.

So, take notes on what your Bareroot Peony is looking for in a home! First, locate a site that has well-draining soil and is a good distance away from other trees or shrubs that may have competing roots underground. Since Peony stems are vulnerable to breakage when heavy with buds and large flowers, avoiding the wind will give you a better chance of not having breakage.

Picking a location that is in full sun with a neutral pH is best too. Peony flowers love to bask in the sun once they have bloomed! However, if your region tends to have hot and dry spring seasons-- choose a site that gets afternoon shade. Once you have unboxed your Bareroot Peony, drop it into a bucket of water while you dig the hole. Then dig the planting hole large enough to accommodate the root mass-- roughly 18 inches across and a shovel length deep. Take a look at your Peony root mass-- you should see a few eyes small pointed buds that are pink or white.

These eyes need to point up, and the entire root mass should be just beneath the soil surface. Yes, your plant will be fully underground! To get the correct measurements, take the plant out and backfill the hole with the displaced soil until the buds are in the correct position. If you live in an area that has mild winters, place the buds closer to the surface about 1 inch so that it is able to get as cold as it needs.

Areas with harsher winters will need to place the bareroot further below the surface about 2 inches. Be mindful to not plant the buds too deep as this will prevent flowering! Once you have positioned the bareroot into the hole and have double-checked that the buds are the correct dimensions from the surface, fill the soil carefully and firmly around the roots.

Do this until your place is fully underground. For best growth results, mix the soil with a trusty fertilizer! Time To Water Congrats! Using a gentle stream of water from a hose, add a decent amount of water to the soil. Landscaping Have a question for the Gardener? Share This. Flowers - Perennials. Can you recommend a non-poisonous flowering tree for mostly shade? Ask the Gardener. I want to receive email updates from Kentucky Living. My question is about gardening in Kentucky.