Link: http://www.embarkservices.com/blog/blogs/

While pruning looks easy, lopping off branches and limbs haphazardly greatly reduces the growth potential of trees and shrubs.

Not doing anything might be better as pests kill less tree and shrubs than bad landscaping.

Understanding some basic concepts will make pruning a matter of common sense. Pruning boils down to removing plant parts to improve the value, health or aesthetic effect of the plant.

Once the objectives are determined and a few basic principles understood, pruning primarily is a matter of common sense.

Nature works as a latent pruner. For example, higher branches may block out the sun of lower branches. Soon the flow of moisture and nutrients will be slowly cut off as a lower bough is restricted by tree tissue immediately at the base that connects a branch to the trunk. Slowly but surely, the bough will break.

Picking the right plant for the location can decrease or eliminate the need for pruning. Fast-growing plants that might become too large for the spot, fragile trees or eye sores should few in number as part of a landscaping approach.

With some plants, pruning should be minimized late in the summer to allow new growth. While the Houston winters are moderate, cold weather nonetheless may not allow this growth to harden off in time.

Plants damaged by hurricanes and storms should be pruned as soon as possible to halt the potential of insect and disease problems that may follow.

Pruning should be left to the professionals to ensure that the care is not harmful to the tree or shrub. For the assistance of an Arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, call Embark Tree and Landscape at 713-462-3261 or go to www.embarkservices.com

Link: http://www.embarkservices.com/blog/blogs/

Unlike a nice dinner or a special moment, preserving a memory is as easy as drying your flowers and pressing that timeless rose for posterity.

Drying and pressing flowers creates another opportunity for enjoyment in decorative crafts, precious gifts and tasteful decorations.

The process for drying flowers usually takes a couple of weeks, provided that conditions are at their best. Hanging flowers upside down in a warm, dark and dry environment will prevent the blooms from rotting while the place void of light will retain the colors.

Before inverting your flowers, remove extraneous leaves and put the blooms in small bunches held together by rubber bands, string or yarn.

The flowers should start to feel dry to the touch after two or three days. Check on them using the same time interval.

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden full of blooms, when you pick them makes a difference when the goal is to have dried flowers. Pick them first thing in the morning when the dew is gone. Also, if picked just previous to fully blooming, some flowers will open more while simultaneously drying.

A dark, sealed container makes for a good repository for the dried flowers until they’re ready to use.

Pressing flowers is another easy process to preserve and further utilize nature’s beauty and bounty.

Start by placing flowers on top of a layer of cardboard, newspaper and tissue paper. Be sure none of the flowers are touching or hang out of the tissue paper.

Lay pieces of tissue, newspaper and cardboard on top of the flowers until all the blossoms are under wraps. Top off the stack with a telephone book, brick or stone.

Your flowers should be ready in two to four weeks.

The summer days will be sweeter knowing that you’ve turned beautiful flowers into a lasting memory.