Volume 4, Issue 8
Essential Pruning Techniques
reviewed by Brian Thompson

One of the classics of horticultural literature is The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown.  Published in 1972, it surveyed the best practices for pruning used on the numerous and wide-ranging woody plants of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew near London.

Brown died in 1980.  Tony Kirkham, the current head of the arboretum, gardens, and horticultural services at Kew, updated his work with a second edition in 2004.  Now Kirkham has published a further revision and considerable expansion of Brown’s original work with Essential Pruning Techniques (2017).

This new book is most obviously different by its inclusion of the excellent photographs by Andrea Jones.  These not only illustrate pruning challenges and techniques for addressing them, they act as a guide to the collections at Kew, showing a wide selection of woody ornamentals suitable for any temperate garden or arboretum.

While trees predominate, there is a good selection of shrubs and vines, too.  Each entry describes the growth habit and the reasons for pruning, which is some cases is “little pruning needed.”  Most helpful are the Brown and Kirkham insights to the individual goals for each species – what should be done so “…the form and beauty of trees and shrubs in summer and winter be fully realized.”

Relevant articles for arborists and green roof designers
found by Information Technology Librarian Tracy Mehlin

The current issue of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening  (vol. 24 2017) has a number of relevant articles for arborists and green roof designers. Forces generated in rigging trees with single and co-dominant stems looks closer at how rigging force can be decreased, which may lower the inherent risks of lowering limbs in large trees. The authors of Measuring the effect of plant-community composition on carbon fixation on green roofs demonstrate that annual plants, such as Trifolium species, should be included in the plant palette, albeit in separate plots, in sedum-dominated green roofs if carbon fixation is the goal.

Anna Pavord to speak at Meany Hall September 7

The Pendleton and Elisabeth C. Miller Charitable Foundation presents the 23rd Annual Elisabeth C. Miller Memorial Lecture with British author Anna Pavord. She will speak about her latest book, Landskipping: Painters, Ploughmen and Places, a celebration of the power of landscape to influence our culture and history. At the Miller Library, we have a selection of Anna Pavord's books available for borrowing.

Pavord's free lecture is Thursday September 7th at Meany Hall. For tickets, contact the Miller Garden at info@millergarden.org or (206) 362-8612.

New to the Library