Garden Tip 204

It was a very harsh winter for trees and shrubs here on Cape Cod. In my 42 years of living here, I don’t remember a winter with more snow than this one. The snow came, lasted for months, and on occasion was heavy and wet. The net result, aside from the breakage and downed trees and shrubs, was that many ended up twisted and deformed. A good deal of time can be spent tying up distorted branches and limbs to bring them back to shape.

In my golden years of gardening, I am always looking to simplify projects to make things a little easier. While working to reshape damaged trees and shrubs, I have found that using metal S-hooks is much easier than tying off with rope and string. These hooks come in many sizes and can be purchased in bundles of 6, 12, and 30. I have found the twelve inch length to be most useful, and they can be hooked together for a longer pull. Try this simple garden tip, and you may, as I did, get hooked!