Out With the Old And In With the New (Year)

by: Blue Marble

January 2, 2016

The New Year rings in and symbolizes the beginning of new growth, revitalization, and being rid of old, nasty habits. This is true for both people and plants alike. While people want to diet to become more healthy, rid themselves of bad habits, begin a new way of life that is enriching and empowering, and just become “better” people in general; plants are looking to alter their lifestyles in similar directions. Plants need a change of pace in the New Year just like everyone else. They are looking to be pruned and/or cutback.

Plants need to be cut back in order to maintain proper plant health. When caring for plants in the New Year, one needs to remove branches that can cause damage to the plant as a whole. Those branches that are crowding, misshapen, dead, or dying cause harm to the rest of the plant. By pruning out the old, in grows the new! Proper cut backs increase a plants flowering and fruiting.

Isn’t everybody looking for a better figure in the New Year? As people head into gyms and find themselves hiring a personal trainer, plants look for the same type of results in the care they receive from us. They need to be pruned in order to restore their proper density and vigor, while training them to their proper shape and size.

It might seem odd or weirdly coincidental that humans and plants would take on these life changing tasks at this specific time of the year. But for plants, it’s easy to explain. Pruning in the late winter and/or early spring is beneficial because the plants are dormant. So you really are getting rid of the old before the new even begins to grow in. It can also be beneficial to cut back in the early summer; this is typically done when the goals are height reduction and increasing shrub (plant) density.

Who knew we had so much in common with living beings that look completely different from us and live what we believe to be a very different life than us. It’s pretty intriguing to think about how all different living beings could be bringing in the New Year in similar fashions. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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