Volunteers from Morgan Stanley learn the “The Chelsea Chop!”
The first 90-degree day at the Waterfront was celebrated with
35 volunteers from Morgan Stanley!
Equipped with pruning shears and gardening gloves, Morgan Stanley was on a mission to help maintain the 2-block-long Lancaster Butterfly Waystation. The company has adopted this garden for the year and is committed to engaging its employees in wildlife and conservation gardening techniques. Volunteers left with plenty of fun facts to impress their friends, focusing this time on the importance of pruning and practicing the Chelsea Chop.
“The Chelsea Chop”
It’s not just a hip haircut or neighborhood; it's a method to encourage perennials to bloom bigger and healthier by giving them an early spring trim.
May is an excellent time for this, and it can be continued into June while the plants are still in active growth. The idea is that by cutting back the plant by ⅓ before it blooms, you will encourage new growth, extend the bloom times, and, in some cases, promote a second bloom. This technique can help stagger plant heights or bloom times, increase the amount and size of flowers, and naturally prevent or control pests and mildew. Pro tip: clip the stem right above a set of leaves as the new growth will come from here.
The Lancaster Garden is filled with thousands of native plants that help create habitat, filter polluted stormwater runoff, and look gorgeous! Currently, you will see the Hairy-beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) in its full glory and the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) beginning to show its bright red pom-pom flowers. The orange milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is about to bloom, as are the Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) and her cousin, the purple coneflower (Echinacea). Pruning back perennials also means you get to make beautiful bouquets, as many varieties of flowers appreciate the chop and will give you more flowers all summer!
Volunteers also learned the difference between Butterfly bush (bad, invasive) and Butterfly weed (good, the only host plant to the monarch butterfly). They also repaired the Insect Hotel, a lavish habitat for beetles and other beneficial bugs, and made seed balls—balls of clay, compost, and seeds that can get a head start on germination when tossed into a derelict lot or tree pit.
Check out our happy volunteers with their waterfront bouquets!
To learn more about conservation gardening, click here to sign up for our monthly Wildlife Gardening Workshops! Buy native plants for your own garden at our favorite place nursery in Baltimore, the Herring Run Nursery located at 6131 Hillen Road.
