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As a plant person I am often uneasy when I think about landscaping. Sometimes I get lucky, but too often my efforts look like a collection of plants rather than a landscape. It is finally oozing into my brain that the last thing a landscaper thinks about is plants.

For example, I recently intercepted a soil salesman, who came with a landscape design background, near the front of my house. While admiring my newly laid walk and the largely unplanted area that resulted, he pointed and said, "what that really needs to set it off is two skinny, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrubs about eight or ten feet tall with interesting bark right there."

I thought to myself, wow, he's right.

Attending a lecture from an oft-published high-end landscaper titled "Anyone Can Landscape" followed that encounter. The speaker immediately made it clear that the last thing he thinks about is the plants.

He said you must start by determining what purpose your landscape will serve. Do you entertain a lot and wish to enhance that experience? Do you need a large area for the dog and kids/grandkids to play? Do you wish to attract birds and other wildlife? Do you have a small lot and just want a bit of privacy?

With the questions from the last paragraph resolved begin to observe what others in your position have done. Be creative as you imitate. The speaker quickly admitted that he almost always begins with imitation.

As you observe and plan there are many factors to consider. Think about a smooth transition between the inside and the outside of your dwelling. Don't forget the importance of vertical elements.

Add some mystery with curving paths, fences, walls or hedges. Don't let them see the whole landscape from one spot. Make them move through it. Most likely the mystery will go hand in hand with creating some privacy.

Think about symmetry and balance. Don't let a large tree or shrub on one side threaten to tilt your whole landscape.Another consideration is when do you use your landscape. If you are away at work all day perhaps you need to showcase the evening.

The speaker offered a few more generalizations. Select plants in odd number groupings. A well-balanced landscape looks about one third full. That leaves the other two thirds as space between and around your buildings and plantings.

He also guessed that generally the cost of landscaping is about half hard-scape and about half plants.

Finally, when you have that picture of your landscape in your mind you are ready to think about plants. By the way, can anybody think of a skinny, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub about eight or ten feet tall with interesting bark?

If I had a close neighbor that I didn't like I would have taken advantage of the recent wind and raked leaves. Fortunately, I have neither and the leaves in question remain nestled around some perennials and shrubs where they have been since fall.

I only thought of raking leaves because I took advantage of the elevated temperatures a few days earlier and trimmed the tops from the dead perennials the leaves surrounded.

With the thermometer planted squarely on 80 degrees, I had a hard time not running for the shovel and a few plants to get the season started. After doing a lot of hard-scaping last summer, I plan to do more planting this year than normal. Fortunately, I keep reminding myself that it is not even the middle of March yet and that I would regret getting in a hurry after the temperatures dropped.

My mind still hasn't erased the memory of that last weekend in March several years ago when the temperatures hovered in the upper 20ies and the winds howled for what seemed like an eternity. That brought levels of devastation to conifers, hollies, butterfly bushes, rhododendrons and other plants that one seldom sees in this area.

Time was spent in the yard and garden though. My lawnmower won't get its usual diet of small limbs and twigs this spring. In the past my definition of small depended on how fast the grass was growing and my failure to find time to pick up sticks. I admit I have a big yard and lots of messy trees but I got at least six loads on a pretty hefty wagon that uses a full sheet of plywood for its bed.

I also practiced with the weed eater. It worked great on the tops of dead perennials and a patch of large flowering hibiscus in one corner of a shrub border. I would caution you about cutting the hibiscus unless you are sure where they are located. They don't come up until mid May and often are sacrificed to a gardener's impatience.

After having exited the orchard business over a dozen years ago, I broke down last summer and junked my collection of well-used shears. The replacement has a name I can't pronounce and a price tag to match. But it works like a miracle compared to what I was using. It, too, got put to some good use last week.

I tackled my shrub dogwoods and a few other similar plants that grow multiple shoots from the ground. The shrub dogwoods are grown for their winter stem color and that is best maintained by removing the oldest stems at the ground level.

On several two-year-old plants I did just that. On a huge four-year-old plant that probably had never seen any attention I had nothing left after removing the poorly colored old stems. It will sprout back with vigor as soon as it warms and be beautiful next winter.

I also tackled some suckers growing around the base of several American red maples. Please note I did not tackle the butterfly bushes. I will wait another month for that. I did not tackle my three peach trees. They wait until about bloom time. The tender shrubs will wait until I see what winter damage has occurred.

Vegetables crossed my mind but I see little value of doing anything there until the last week in March. Of course peas, potatoes and onions are the first in the ground.

It got warm. I practiced patient, behaved gardening. The next time it gets warm I have more perennials to cut off and, of course, the leaves. Maybe by the third time it gets warm both the calendar and the thermometer will say it's all right to plant.

The best way to have a weed free garden is to not let weeds grow in it. Before you spend too much time looking for hidden wisdom in the last statement, let me digress and explain.

More than twenty years ago when I still had the orchard, my wife and I attended a weeklong international fruit conference in the state of Washington. Part of the program included tours of orchards.

There was one that I will never forget. It was perfect. Everyone there recognized it. When quizzed, the owner stated that he carried all his maintenance tools on his tractor and when he saw a problem he'd stop and fix it.

Shortly after we lose our ability to see a weed and not pull it, our weed problems will nearly end.

Weed control starts before you plant. Planting before thinking about weed control is a sure recipe for failure.

Your pre-plant weed control choices are cultivation, smothering or chemicals. If you go the chemical route with a product like roundup you should make several applications a month or so apart. There are weeds that grow over winter and others that sprout throughout the growing season. Get them all.

Smothering can be accomplished with black plastic or fabric left in place for about two months during the hottest part of the growing season. On a nearly level site a shortcut is cultivation, followed by planting through a several page layer of newspaper and topped with a layer of mulch to hide the newspapers. I haven't figured out how to keep the mulch on the paper where there is much of a slope.

Cultivation is the age-old method of weed control. Unfortunately, weeds follow a hoe. Every time you dig you bring new weed seeds to the surface and the battle continues.

The hoe is valuable if you use it to tackle newly germinated weeds by just scratching the surface. I heard a weed scientist state that cultivation in the evening brings fewer weeds than cultivation earlier in the day. It's something about the seeds needing light to wake up before they can germinate.

When you plant there are two more factors to consider in the battle against weeds. A light layer of mulch will slow weed germination. Too much mulch can impede the plants you wish to grow. I have seen few problems staying in the range of an inch or two.

The second idea suggests a cottage garden. Close planting eliminates space for the weeds and provides shade to reduce light and inhibit germination.

I will claim that after maybe three or four years I have several large shrub and perennial beds where I spend less time annually than I do on the same sized area of grass.

In conclusion, roundup is my friend, I'm nervous about most other garden herbicides, I seldom take the hoe to the garden when I'm chasing weeds and I usually have the stains on my hands to prove it.

Several days ago I was asked for a recipe to get the perfect poinsettia. I had a wonderful answer immediately. Go to the greenhouse or garden center and buy a nice one. After the holidays throw it away. Repeat the process next year. End of column.

But since I have more space to fill I will continue. Poinsettias are a favorite of a number of insects, especially whiteflies. Select a plant with dark green leaves and inspect for insects. Look under the leaves, too.

Poinsettias do not like it too cold, too hot, too dry or too wet. Your purchase should never be exposed to temperatures below 50 degrees without protection. That includes the quick trip from the greenhouse to the car and then from the car to the house.

Do not place in a windowsill to avoid temperature extremes. The foil that usually comes along often interferes with the pot drainage. I use the weight test. If it is real light I water a bit. Otherwise I wait.

If you are one of the brave ones and wish to keep a poinsettia for the next season, I offer five tips, stolen, but in my words, from a Penn State fact sheet.

In March or early April cut the plant back to four to eight inches. Increase the water and use a balanced fertilizer every two weeks. A balanced fertilizer would have equal amounts of each element, like 10-10-10.

When the nighttime temperatures are above 55, set the plant outside. Do not plant in the ground. I don't know why, but my questioner did, and his died immediately after repotting.

As the temperatures cool bring it inside. Do not over-water. The breeding stock of today's poinsettias is native to dry climates.

Beginning on October 1 the plant needs long nights with 14 hours of darkness. Put it in a closet or under a box for the necessary hours each day. The rest of the time, keep it in bright light. Those that know claim that even a short interruption in the dark cycle will mess up the process. Don't peek.

In early December examine your results. Then go to the greenhouse and buy one for the living room. Put the one you raised in the spare bedroom.

I confess there is an excess of my words in that last step. If you try it, good luck, but don't expect the results that an experienced poinsettia grower can get.

Many of you know that in a previous life I was briefly a teacher. I guess that reinforces a belief that lifelong education is necessary for our well-being. You can't miss it talking to me and I confess it is the chief motivation for writing this weekly column.

So it should come as no surprise that this winter I am making weekly treks to Harrisburg Area Community College for a series of twelve horticulture classes or lectures. I also confess that occasionally I enjoy political incorrectness. I try to limit that to twenty times a day.

Thus, I enjoyed it when the instructor destroyed one of the most remembered lines from the American Revolutionary War when he said "Give me Round-up or give me death." I suspect that this common weed killer plays a role in his garden.

If you are committed to complete organic methods, you have my admiration. You can also stop reading now. I love to pull weeds but some of those characters are persistent enough that I consider using chemicals. The rest of this column will explore the ins and outs of using Round-up in the garden.

Round-up is the most recognized and widely used weed killer in horticulture. It is rather short lived in the environment and quite targeted in its action. No pesticide is without risk but this one is rather benign in my mind.

It targets the chlorophyll or the green part of the plant. It then translocates (moves) throughout the plant including the roots, thus killing the offender. It is safe to use around the base of mature trees. Somewhere I was told that after three years bark is mature enough, or chlorophyll free, to not be damaged by Round-up. As you push that envelope your risk of damage increases.

Continuing from the last paragraph, Round-up has no effect on seeds or as a surface treatment unless there is actively growing green there.

With normal growing temperatures, the job is done in three to five days and you can cultivate if you wish. Remember that when you cultivate you bring new weed seeds to the surface and face additional problems from weed germination. I used some about the first of November. After ten days, the first traces of action is visible.

There are a number of formulations available since it is now off patent. Recent ones include a surfactant, which speeds the knock down factor and increases its range of effectiveness.

Application can be as a general or targeted spray remembering if it is green and it is hit, it is dead. If you have a severely weed infested area I would suggest several applications because there are spring weeds and winter weeds.

In other words, there are different weeds for different seasons. Time your applications four to eight weeks apart and have patience. The most discouraging garden experience comes when you plant into a base of weeds.

A wipe application is very effective if you are after weeds growing among desired plants. There is a commercial wick on the market. The homemade way of targeting selected weeds is to don a long rubber glove first. Then add a cheap fabric glove. Dip the glove in non-diluted Round-up and touch the targets. Beware of the damage that a drippy glove can do.

On some of the toughest perennial weeds an application in the fall as the plant reverses translocation and food is moving to the roots is most effective.

Don't surrender the opportunity to have dirty hands. Pull some weeds, but sometimes a little assistance enhances our gardening efforts.