Boardash: ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Saturday December 26, 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Saturday December 26, 2009

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Gardening Daily Tips
For You
Saturday December 26, 2009

Aster (Aster spp.)
Q&A: Training an Apple Tree
Q&A: Planting a Christmas Tree
Tip: Start a Garden Journal
Get Healthy in 2010
Reader Photos

Aster (Aster spp.)

Today's Featured Plant
Aster (Aster spp.)

Read the full profile of this plant at ArcaMax.com.

Interested in reading about other plants? Search through hundreds of plant profiles and helpful articles by keyword.

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Q&A: Training an Apple Tree

Question: I'd like to know how to go about training the semi-dwarf apple sapling that I planted last year.

Answer: You'll probably want to train it to a central leader, with fruit-bearing lateral (side) branches. The other option is an open center with long laterals, which resembles an upside down umbrella. The first year, cut back the laterals, leaving four buds. In the spring two branches should begin to grow from this point forward. Next winter, cut the branch back to a flowering bud to force a fruit spur the following spring. When you're cutting back to a flowering bud, you'll have to cut back past the two new branches that formed over the summer, to a plump bud left on the lateral from the previous winter's pruning. At this point, maybe a picture is worth more than a description! Check your library or bookstore for an illustrated guide to pruning fruit trees. Best of luck!

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Q&A: Planting a Christmas Tree

Question: How do I plant a live Christmas tree after Christmas?

Answer: that's a whole new story!

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Tip: Start a Garden Journal

Now is a good time to start a garden journal for next year's garden. In a notebook include areas for sample garden plans, weather information, planting, fertilizing, watering and harvesting dates, and the amount of money spent on garden purchases.

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Sincerely,
ArcaMax Editors