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Knowing when to prune is an essential skill as it helps you maintain healthy, good-looking, and long-lasting plants, which will thrive in your beautiful garden:

Early Spring

Variety: Semi-woody perennials
Activity: Help produce strong new stems and best flower display by cutting back to about 4 inches
Hint: Anytime during the winter is also OK to cut back these plants.

Variety: Ornamental grasses
Activity: Cut as close to the ground as possible.
Hint: Make the the job fast and easy by tying the top of the grasses together first.

Variety: Summer-flowering trees, shrubs, vines, hydrangea, and roses
Action: Reduce in size if required, also prune out damaged, dead or crowded stems. Now is a good time to prune the plant into the required shape.
Hint: Spring fertilization and adequate moisture in the summer will maximize number and size of summer blooms as summer flower buds develop on new growth. .

Variety: Broad-leaved evergreens (bay, laurel)
Activity: Winter-injured foliage should be pruned out by removing the affected stems.
Hint: New growth will quickly cover cut tips if you choose to use shears later in the spring

Check back in a few weeks for my late spring/early summer pruning tips

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