WINTER MAINTENANCE

Hopefully this isn't the extent of our snowfall this winter (although spare me the monster storms!). Remember that even though your plants aren't growing in the winter, they are still subject to drying out and damage from strong winds, especially when there is little rain and no snow cover. On a warmer day give newly-planted or delicate specimens some additional water to help them survive til spring rains.

The snowdrops started blooming already - that means the early witch hazels aren't far behind! Late January and February is a great time to prune evergreen and deciduous shrubs. For the latter, you can see the plant structure much better now than in spring, and can remove crossed and unsightly vertical branches as well as generally thin out and 'open' the shrub. Don't remove more than about 25% of the total volume.