CELEBRATING 28 YEARS! Welcome to My weekly series! THE LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONAL ASK Linda K. Lillie of Sprigs & Twigs Linda K. Lillie has been President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc. for the last 26 years. She is a graduate of Connecticut College in Botany, an accredited NOFA Organic Land Care Professional, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national award winning landscape designer for her design and installation projects. Hi Linda, I planted this dwarf mountain Laurel last year. They produced some blooms, but this year I have a lot of deadwood on each of the plants - and no blooms at all. Should I cut the deadwood or wait until the fall? Thank you in advance for your help. -Kathy Hi Kathy, Mt. Laurels are very particular about the soil and the environment they are planted in. They prefer a part sun/ part shade environment and like a cool, moist, deep and organically rich soil. You will need to water the shrub for the next two-three summers only (June-mid September) until it gets established. EMAIL OR MAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO: info@sprigsandtwigs.net or Linda Lillie, Sprigs & Twigs Inc, PO Box 245, Gales Ferry, CT 06335 Cut off the deadwood now. Remove some of the mulch around the base of the plant, the mulch looks a bit too deep and too close to the stems. Fertilize with HollyTone organic fertilizer now, only once and water the fertilizer in. In the future, fertilize in April only for the season. Keep the Mt. Laurel watered throughout the summer with (1) 5 gallon bucket of water per week. If we get a deep penetrating rainfall, water one week after the rainfall. Stop watering by mid-September. Also at this time, add a good compost, like Coast of Maine Compost around the base of the plant (-3' around the plant and work into soil gently). For winter, place chopped leaves around the base of the plant (about 3' around the shrub). Good Luck. WE'RE GOING DIGITAL! SCAN THE QR CODE, OR GO TO THE LINK BELOW! SUBMIT YOUR OWN QUESTIONS, GET FREE GARDENING ADVICE, AND SAVE YOUR FAVORITES. Sprigs & Twigs WWW.SPRIGSANDTWIGS.NET | 860-235-0752 https://mailchi.mp/sprigsandtwigs/np-subscribe CELEBRATING 28 YEARS ! Welcome to My weekly series ! THE LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONAL ASK Linda K. Lillie of Sprigs & Twigs Linda K. Lillie has been President of Sprigs & Twigs , Inc. for the last 26 years . She is a graduate of Connecticut College in Botany , an accredited NOFA Organic Land Care Professional , a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national award winning landscape designer for her design and installation projects . Hi Linda , I planted this dwarf mountain Laurel last year . They produced some blooms , but this year I have a lot of deadwood on each of the plants - and no blooms at all . Should I cut the deadwood or wait until the fall ? Thank you in advance for your help . -Kathy Hi Kathy , Mt. Laurels are very particular about the soil and the environment they are planted in . They prefer a part sun / part shade environment and like a cool , moist , deep and organically rich soil . You will need to water the shrub for the next two - three summers only ( June - mid September ) until it gets established . EMAIL OR MAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO : info@sprigsandtwigs.net or Linda Lillie , Sprigs & Twigs Inc , PO Box 245 , Gales Ferry , CT 06335 Cut off the deadwood now . Remove some of the mulch around the base of the plant , the mulch looks a bit too deep and too close to the stems . Fertilize with HollyTone organic fertilizer now , only once and water the fertilizer in . In the future , fertilize in April only for the season . Keep the Mt. Laurel watered throughout the summer with ( 1 ) 5 gallon bucket of water per week . If we get a deep penetrating rainfall , water one week after the rainfall . Stop watering by mid - September . Also at this time , add a good compost , like Coast of Maine Compost around the base of the plant ( -3 ' around the plant and work into soil gently ) . For winter , place chopped leaves around the base of the plant ( about 3 ' around the shrub ) . Good Luck . WE'RE GOING DIGITAL ! SCAN THE QR CODE , OR GO TO THE LINK BELOW ! SUBMIT YOUR OWN QUESTIONS , GET FREE GARDENING ADVICE , AND SAVE YOUR FAVORITES . Sprigs & Twigs WWW.SPRIGSANDTWIGS.NET | 860-235-0752 https://mailchi.mp/sprigsandtwigs/np-subscribe