Pruning Shrubs and Trees - Late Winter

I learned in my gardening class that some shrubs and trees should be pruned in late winter, and March is the perfect time to do this: Lilacs, forsythia, butterfly bush, hydrangea, spirea - and other deciduous shrubs, apple trees, needled evergreens, and hemlocks.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I went to Tougas Family Farm to learn how to prune blueberries, since this is the time of year when they need to be done.  I will not be pruning my blueberries for at least 3 years however.  My poor blueberry bushes!

Those little twigs sticking up through the snow are what's left of my baby blueberry bushes!  This year, I am going to do everything I can to protect them.

I pruned several bushes this week - my butterfly bushes and my hydrangeas.  I took another look at them today and determined that I have to go back and make some "thinning cuts".  Thinning cuts can be done at any time of the year, as they don't really effect the fruiting.

This poor butterfly bush had a deer take a nap on it last summer.  It's still alive, but I have to find some way to straighten it out.

I still have our hemlock hedge to do - which is getting a little out of hand:

Also, forsythia, lilacs,burning bush (which is an invasive species) and spirea... all of which are a mess!

 

 

I like this picture of Shadow!  He loves to be outside when I'm gardening.

Anyway, I tend to tame all of these plants.  These pictures show we had fresh snow yesterday.  The yard looked a little bleak today - very soon we should see a lot of color (and neat looking hedges and shrubs)!