Nice article. What can I say I guess splitting the time works :) And it reinforces the idea that the purpose of using artificial lighting in winter is to match or exceed the intensity of light of what it would normally be in natural season of particular crop in nature under the sun. Therefore the lights are actually mostly on within the time period of daylight as an addition to sun and few hours added after and before sun time, depending on the plant species of course. Thanks for the article. I'm currently reading up on CO2 enrichment and this article touched up on it a little bit.

First rule of pruning Japanese maples - use a very light touch. They require minimal pruning. 1) It is always acceptable to remove dead wood at any time. 2)Lower limbs help to establish trunk development - don't be too hasty in removing but if they become or encounter obstructions, go ahead. 3)Never remove more than a third of the total canopy mass at any given time. Unless you are thinning out a very mature JM - which yours is not - I can't envision when this rule would need to be exercised. JM's just do not require that much pruning. 4) Crossing limbs or those that rub together should be addressed. If not a concern now, ignore. In zone 8b, snowloads are generally not a concern - that would be the only other reason I might consider pruning. Other than removing any dead wood and possibly the removal of one of the lower branches (save the other for next year), I see no other reason to prune. And with the lace leaf, cascading branches are SOP. If they are hitting the ground you can trim them back slightly but for heaven's sake, untie them!! FWIW, my collection of Japanese maples gets pruned only to remove dead wood and the odd very wayward branch. A mature 'Sango Kaku' has been thinned once. Sources on Japanese maples often use the term 'judicious' pruning, indicating the need to exercise caution and discretion when pruning. Better to take off too little than too much :-)

I think I would start right next to the house and take back any branches that are scraping on the house walls or roof or gutters. I would also check the gutters to see that they are free of old rotting leaves and that the downspouts and drains for stormwater are clear. If you get sudden rain events then this can be very important. If you have metal gutters rather than plastic - check that leaves have not caused rust and little holes. (Somehow there is always a leak in the gutter over the back door...;-) ) Then I would look at the trees in the yard that give really good shelter in the summer. They make cool patches for kids to play in and for you to put out a table and chairs in the shade. You might need to take out surplus shrubs and plants to give yourself the clear room to use. You would want to be able to get there easily, so have good wide paths from the house to these places. If they are hard-surfaced then a child can ride on toys or pull waggons along them. Some of the trees and shrubs might have branches and leaves low to the ground and would look really awful if those branches were taken off. (Some evergreens grow that way.) They can act as a living wall in the garden - screening off private areas. If you were to take them out, for good safety reasons, you might need to consider how else you will get that privacy. Older shrubs with dead branches and such: some plants don't live for very long. For example, you might find that California lilac (Ceanothus) only looks elegant for about fifteen years and then it becomes quite woody and gnarly. It has character - but a lot fewer flowers than a younger plant. Gnarly? Or flowers? If it's flowers you want then you'll take out the old plant and replace it (or enjoy the space). If branches are dead you can take them out at any time of the year. Be particularly careful when you have to work higher than your head. It might be slower to remove a limb in small sections but it doesn't hurt nearly as much if a piece falls on you! For the vines: sometimes they are planted to give a big sheet of flowers and scent, or to cover an old tree or fence and to hide a bad view. And some of them are planted to give 'instant' results. Many 'instant' plants have thug tendencies. They grow vigorously... Before you take to the stranglers - take a look at what will be left once they've gone. You might be willing to leave some of the vines behind because of the effects they give - or the shelter. If the honeysuckle has really got away and is out to monster the garden you will probably need loppers that will cut through at least an inch, a pair of good secateurs with brightly coloured handles so you can find them in the tangle, possibly a pruning saw. (Don't waste your time trying to cut vines and dead branches with a carpenter's saw. The teeth are too small and not set right to shift away the green wood as you cut. A swedish bow saw might be fine but a pruning saw will save you a lot of hard work.) And you will have to dig out the roots (or use a strong herbicide stronger than Roundup), so a mattock or sharp spade will be useful. If you don't recognise all the vines, and you have a digital camera, take photos, then post them on the Name That Plant! forum (there are instructions available) to get answers and leads on how to live with them or control them.

Especially if you want to stay "organic", Espoma Citrus Tone is probably the best; but for Meyers you have to use at least 1.5X what the label recommends. I am assuming all your citrus are planted in ground. You could choose from a wide variety of chemical ferts; but they should have an NPK ratio of 5-1-3 (5-1-2 is better for Meyers); and they should have 2% each of Mg and Ca; and 1% each of Iron and Zinc. In ground trees should be fertilized 3-4 times per year, applied at the dripline and watered in well. Having said that, photos always help with any diagnosis