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A LOOK BACK

Horticulture

November - December 2023

Greg Coppa shares lessons learned in his 2023 garden

THIS ARTICLE will be my end-of-thegrowing-season report, seasoned with some general observations and a couple of tidbits that defy classification.

USE ALL THE TOOLS Over last fall a couple of plants that had "most favored" status with me suffered what could have become serious, if not fatal, injuries. One was a four-foot-tall potted fig tree that resides on a patio located on Fleming Island in northeast Florida. The other was a prized yellow-blossomed 'Capistrano' rhododendron, which is the first of my rhodies to bloom here in southern New England.

Both favorites looked as though they were damaged by marauding deer that were perhaps rubbing the velvet off their antlers. (It is only fair to mention, though, that a portable soccer net was parked nearby the fig.) In any case, the sizeable branches were split but not separated from the main trunks and the exposed interior wood was unoxidized and clean.

In both instances I used one-inch self-tapping sheetrock screws to hold the branches back in their original positions. Then I smeared the joints with a little silicone caulking compound I had handy. The branches on both plants subsequently leafed out in a healthy fashion. I'll inspect these repairs in the future. I am thinking that I will probably leave the screws in place.

PLASTIC: IT'S GOT METTLE