Monthly Archives

January 2026

Jan 27
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Why you must make good tree pruning cuts!

By | Company News | No Comments

https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastlandscapepro

Preaching about cuts and stubs

Every season I see bad pruning cuts on trees. Usually, people make a cut and leave a short stub, instead of making a proper cut at the bark branch collar. And what’s wrong with leaving stubs?

Normally, when you make a pruning wound on a tree, it reacts by immediately starting repairs. It takes time, but eventually the wound is covered up and all is good. But when you leave a short stub, the tree can’t cover up the wound. It can’t physically cover up a short stub.

The stub eventually dies and breaks off. But before it does, it can allow bacteria and fungi to enter the tree with catastrophic consequences. Plus, it looks awful when your tree is covered in short stubs.

Now, I’ve covered all of this in previous blog posts, and it may not be news to you. It was my buddy’s text that inspired this blog post.

Slime flux

It’s easy for me to show you tree stubs on trees but what is much harder to show is actual diseases entering a tree. That’s where my buddy comes in with his beautiful text message. He had a red maple on his site with vertical cracks and orange slime showing. He was correctly wondering what it was. Bingo!

This very nicely illustrates the dangers of open tree wounds. It doesn’t take much for fungi or bacteria to move in and this slime flux or bacterial wetwood is one example. That’s how we identified the orange slime that was oozing out of a frost crack. Since we didn’t prune this maple, we can assume it’s a frost crack.

Luckily, my online search revealed that bacterial wetwood isn’t fatal for mature trees; they can fight it off. Younger trees may not be so lucky. But it’s best not to push your luck in the first place.

Make good pruning cuts!

A nicely closed wound.
A dead stub from a Japanese park (Niigata City, Japan)
Jan 26
0

Leave your perennials standing over the winter!

By | gardening, perennials, winter | No Comments

https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastlandscapepro

Can you do it?

Not cutting back perennials is easier said than done, especially in strata maintenance. Strata councils often demand tidiness and standing, spent, brown perennials are frowned upon. In private gardens, it’s much easier because the homeowner decides.

I know one large strata complex in White Rock, British Columbia, where people decided to leave their perennials standing. Not just ornamental grasses (cut them back in late winter) but Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Hakonechloa, ornamental onions and others. A memo was sent out informing all residents about the change.

And let me add that landscapers also had to be ordered to stand down. There is plenty of work on site but every year workers take down perennials and ornamental grasses way to early. Usually in early fall, with the excuse that their site rotation wouldn’t reach them in time, which is totally fake news.

I’m happy to openly admit that I personally used to crave neatness. I love cutting back perennials. I do it by hand with my snips and I get into a nice flow so it doesn’t even feel like work.

You can change your habits. I did!

Pushback

Despite the early warning, people still pushed back. I guess driving up to the gate and seeing clumps of brown perennials still standing rubs some people the wrong way. Since the gate is slow to open, the people have plenty of time to check out the entrance landscape.

So, why are we leaving perennials standing? Because birds eat the seeds in winter, when there is less food available. If you cut them back in fall, you’ve just blown up their pantry. And you eliminated hiding places for insects to overwinter in.

Then you also miss out on aestethics! You see that clearly this week with temperatures dipping below zero overnight; and north facing, shady areas staying cold all day. When you walk out you see plants covered in frost and they look amazing.

When you cut everything back too early, you miss out on the magic of frost. I will include some frost photos below so you can see for yourself.

Seeds and magic, that’s why you should leave your perennials standing over the winter!

https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastlandscapepro

Jan 25
0

One rushed Pyracantha

By | Pruning, shrubs | No Comments
https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastlandscapepro

Prickly shrub

Pyracantha is a nice shrub we frequently see planted in our landscapes. Its red or orange berry clusters are very showy, especially now as I write this in January, 2026. The berries are hard to miss.

The other key feature of this common shrub are its nasty prickles. After all, its common name is fire thorn; and I have lots of bad experiences with it. Once, I got poked in the hand, at the bottom of my thumb and the area swelled up for days.

That’s why Pyracanthas are planted both for their showy berry clusters and for security, to keep criminals and pedos away from your home. I still remember one project where we planted Pyracanthas along the outer walls of an underground parkade to discourage criminals from breaking in.

Pruning

Pyracanthas like to send out shoots so we keep power shearing them to keep them in check. And they can take it. You can, of course, hand prune them, but it’s slower and it requires a decent pair of gloves.

Now, this blog post was inspired by my recent visit to Langley Memorial Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. I had to wait for one hour and sitting inside a hospital didn’t excite me. I tried, but the constant stream of nurses and patients moving by depressed me. So, I went for a walk and that’s where I discovered a few Pyracanthas by the wall.

Don’t rush

As I got closer to the shrubs, I discovered some blemishes that made it clear this was a rush job. You can’t just machine gun the shrub and run away. Do you know why? It looks awful. Great clean up is mandatory.

I discovered cut branches on top of the shrubs that were never removed. They will be easy to spot once they turn completely brown but why wait? Put gloves on and remove them, even if it’s slightly annoying. The prickles make them stick so it can take some effort.

A second problem involves the tips. You can see the shredding because Pyracanthas are woody and they resist power shearing. Thus the shredding. So what do we do about it? Use your snips to clean up the tops. Simply make nice cuts below the shredded tops. That cleans it up nicely.

Remember to do a good job pruning and cleaning. Your Pyracanthas will love you for it!