Classes 2 and 3 were virtual. We got an email both Mondays with a study guide attachment and a link to a video of Taylor giving our lecture. We had a week to read, watch and take an open book quiz to prove we had watched the video and understood the chapters. Here are my takeaways from each class.

Week 2 was Botany and it really was a crash course of Botany 101. We learned the parts of plants and got enough detail to have some understanding of why we should do some things. (Like, don’t water your trees at the trunk, that’s not where absorption happens.) And what to call different types of flowers and leaf shapes makes identification easier, which can make knowing how to care of the plant better. There are many useful diagrams in the handbook.

Week 3 was Soil, Composting and Vermicomposting.

The primary information in the soil section was soil composition and how to collect samples for testing. Short form: Take several slices from each area you need to have checked (lawn, flowerbed, veggie garden, etc.), mix the slices and send some of the mixture in a box with no tape and no baggy inside to Raleigh. The top is going to be ripped off and the sample dried before testing.

You can pick up boxes at your county Extension Service office. It costs $5/box until April and it’s free through summer and Fall. Do one box per area of your yard no more often than every 2 or 3 years.Commercial kits are worthless and cost more.

At my house, we have been doing a kind of combination of hot and cold composting in 2 large trash cans. I learned that we need to stir it more often. And we need to water it. That had never occured to me. But, if you think about it, it does make sense that the organisms that are turning stuff into soil won’t like being dried out.

I have not tried vermicomposting. There is a specific variety of earthworn used for that. Well… Seven of the 6000 species worldwide are particularly good for it and, of those 7, Eisenia fetida (common name: red wiggler) is the favorite. You put in 1 pound (approximately 1000 worms) per square foot of surface area to get started. Frankly, it looked like more effort than I want to put into creating compost.

Week 4 was Pruning Ornamentals. There was no reading. Taylor brought in a couple of shrubs and a tree that he worked on in the auditorium before we went aoutside to practice what he had been telling us.

Generally, now is the time to prune your ornamentals. If you have something that is Spring blooming, wait until it has bloomed and do it right after it has finished. If you have something that blooms multiple seasons, you just have to pick the one you’re willing to sacrifice.

Water shoots can come off any time.

Dead, dying or diseased branches should come off anytime, too. Don’t let that linger.

Clean your clippers or loppers with 70% isopropyl alcohol between cuts if you are managing a diseased specimen. If you are pruning for other reasons clean between genuses (roses to gardenias) and after every tree if you are pruning fruit.

Waiting until a tree or shrub has finished leafing out (the leaves are all full and flat) means you’ll get less new growth. It you want it bushy, do it while it’s still pushing out the new stuff.

Cut at a 45º angle above a node with more bark on the top so water doesn’t puddle on the cut. If you cut down to the node, you’ll get a weak branch.

If you have an evergreen that needs controlling, for instance, one that’s encroaching on your driveway, if you cut the limbs back to the trunk, they will not grow back. If you simply trim them back, they will. So how you cut depends on the effect you want.

If you are shaping a hedge, trim it a little narrower at the top. Otherwise the shade will stunt the bottom growth and you’ll get a woody bottom. (That’s a great band name for a bluegrass band.) It doesn’t have to be a dramatic difference. But, you do need to to let the light through.

And that’s why you prune a healthy plant. To let in light, for airflow, to remove crossing branches and to stimulate the gowth of flowering wood.