Landscape Contractor Serving Commercial and Residential
Rivas Design & Landscaping

Category: Gardening

It’s April — What Should I Prune?

I find this time of year to be one where it is easy to get pruner-happy. While most things can survive a poorly timed pruning, there are a few that will make you skip a year of beauty if you cut at the wrong time. What can be cut now?

  • old perennial growth
  • dry branches and leaves
  • old grass growth
  • some fruit trees, vines--depending on whether they bloom on year old wood
  • old flower heads

What to avoid cutting now?

  • Rhododendrons and azaleas: the buds were set in the fall and should only be pruned immediately after the bloom
  • Forsythia -- wait until done blooming
  • Hydrangea macrophylla (mop head hydrangea) -- except to remove old flowers. Wait until new growth comes on before pruning out dead

If in doubt, wait. 

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Home Gardener

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."
-Thomas Jefferson
Christmas gift ideas for the home gardener.

  • A trowel and hand shovel set. Fiskars has a nice sturdy set--perfect for the home gardener
  • Gloves. Costco sells a multi-pack for women in pastel colors (gardening gloves) and black for men (work gloves) that are essentially the same item in different colors. The moisture and dirt of gardening wear gloves out pretty quickly.
  • Small shovel. Sometimes you just need a little more digging ability in a shovel. These small size spades are perfect for larger plantings and transplants, weed removal, and general working of the beds.
  • Seed starting greenhouses and supplies.
  • Gift certificates to seed catalogs, like Burpee, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Tomato Growers Supply Co.
  • Subscription to Mother Earth News, Grit or another gardening journal.