Full Bloom Nursery | Clermont, GA

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant".

Anne Bradstreet

Winter chores in the garden

Fluff up the mulch in flower beds, around foundation plantings, and trees. Mulch tends to mat as a result of alternate freezing and thawing during winter, forcing water to run off certain areas rather than seep into the soil. When this happens, plants--especially evergreens--don't get the moisture they need. Using a pitchfork, flip the mulch and fluff it lightly. By fluffing the mulch, water can easily penetrate the soil in the root zone of plants; as a bonus, it will look like you just spread fresh mulch!

Prepare planting beds. Late winter is the ideal time to clean up flowerbeds by cutting back perennials and applying a layer of compost over the beds.

Give ornamental grasses their annual haircut. An easy quick way to cut them back is to tie some string around the entire clump and knot it tightly. Then when you cut the grass back, all the blades will be neatly tied up in a bundle.

Weed-infested lawns will benefit from an application of pre-emergent herbicide.

Late winter is also a good time to get power equipment serviced. If you wait until spring to have your equipment serviced, the service departments are going to be busy with the spring rush of gardeners. If you start early before the lines begin to form, you will be able to pick up your equipment in a few days rather than a few weeks.

Winter in north Georgia is a good time for the gardener, too. Mild days are perfect for doing chores and getting fresh air and exercise. You’ll get a head start on spring so you won’t be overwhelmed with too many tasks come April. After all, March and April are for planting flowers and vegetables!

Late Winter Recommended for Pruning Chores

If you're itching to get outdoors and work in your yard, now's a good time to survey your landscape and decide what needs pruning. But keep in mind that not all plants need to be trimmed. If a plant is healthy and happy and has been planted where it can grow naturally, it’s sometimes best to leave it alone. This all depends on what it is. For example, roses and butterfly bushes should always be pruned in late winter but azaleas and dogwoods should be left to grow naturally if they were planted in the right place.

Landscape plants should be pruned to maintain or reduce their size, to remove undesirable growth, to remove dead or damaged branches, and to rejuvenate older plants to produce more vigorous foliage, flowers and fruits. In some cases, pruning is necessary to prevent damage to life and property.

Late winter or early spring, before new growth begins, is generally the best time to prune most plants. This is when the plant's wounds heal quickly, without threat of insect or disease infection. However, plants that bloom in early spring, such as forsythia, magnolia and crabapples, should be pruned later in spring after their blooms fade if you want to have flowers that season. These early bloomers produce their flower buds on last year's wood, so pruning early will remove many potential blooms. However, if you have a spring-blooming plant that has gotten too large and needs a drastic pruning, late winter while the plant is dormant is the best time. You won’t get many flowers that year but the plant will be less stressed than if you do a drastic pruning later in the season. Trees that have large quantities of sap in the spring, such as maple, birch and dogwood, are not harmed by early spring pruning but can be pruned in mid-summer or late fall to avoid the sap bleeding.

It's best to allow a tree or shrub to develop its natural shape as much as possible. However, removing selected branches because they are weak or formed at a poor angle to the trunk will help the rest of plant receive more sunlight. Thin this type of growth by removing unwanted branches at the base of the plant. On a tree, make the cut just beyond the branch collar, which is the ridge of bark that surrounds the junction of that branch to its point of origin. This will leave a very short stub that will heal over quickly.

Evergreen conifers such as pines, juniper, and arborvitae are not pruned by the same methods as other plants. If a limb has no green needles or small branches inside of where you want to make your cut, the limb will not send out any new growth and usually will eventually die. Conifers should be sheared lightly from the time they are planted to keep them in the desired shape, instead of letting them grow out of bounds and then having to drastically cut them back.

Shrubs that have become overgrown, or stopped flowering like they used to, might benefit from renewal pruning. Each winter for the next three years, remove about one-third of the oldest, largest-diameter stems, all the way back to the ground. The other two-thirds can be headed back about one-third of their height by cutting back to an outward-facing bud or side branch. After the third year, all of the plant's stems will be no older than 3 years. Nandina and forsythia are two examples of plants that benefit from renewal pruning.

Whatever the tree or shrub, remember that topping or haircut trimming are not good for the plant. Topping results in numerous, fast-growing new shoots that do not look good and they are much weaker and more susceptible to wood rots than the original growth, and are more likely to cause damage to property and power lines.