In The Garden with Danielle Brown February 2025 Edition

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In The Garden with Danielle Brown | February 2025 Edition

Chapter 2: Trim for Triumph!

February can be a time of cold, dark days. It is the shortest month of the year, and I’ve often thought it was because we couldn’t take 31 days of this month!

There may be snow on the ground which could prevent putting down mulch, but the deciduous trees and shrubs are bare, so that means you can really see the structure. My gardening tip for February is PRUNE.

This is a great time to survey the landscape and see if there are any crossing, broken, or weak branches that can be removed. That neglected butterfly bush-it’s time to get that shrub back into shape!

Make sure you have good quality, sharp tools. Just like a dull knife is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen, so too are dull or broken tools in the landscape. Also, if you feel unsafe doing ANY of these tasks, ask for help from someone who knows how to perform this job safely without damaging the plant.

There are correct ways and incorrect ways to prune trees and shrubs. There is a multitude of guides and illustrations on how to do this work. The goal in structural pruning is to make clean cuts that promote heathy new growth and improve the structure, beauty, and longevity of the plant.

Good candidates for winter structural pruning:

  • Younger deciduous trees
  • Older woody shrubs that bloom on “new wood” like butterfly bush, hydrangeas (H. arborescens, H. paniculata) *
  • Roses

*When to prune flowering plants is often divided into categories like “blooms on new wood” and “blooms on last year’s” or “old wood.” If you prune a plant that blooms on old wood, you are essentially cutting off this season’s flowers. It is not harmful to the plant, and you may get a few sporadic blooms.

 

About the Author: Danielle Brown – Project Manager at J. W. Townsend Landscapes

Danielle has 1/4 of a century of hands-on gardening experience and landscape design application under her belt. She is a VNLA Certified Horticulturist, ISA Certified Arborist, and is a Commercial Pesticide Applicator. She holds a B. S. in Psychology from JMU and a certificate in Landscape Design from University of Richmond. She is a VNLA Certified Horticulturist as well as a Registered Technician for pesticide application. Danielle joined J. W. Townsend, Inc. in April 2010 after working in sales and landscape design at a local garden center. She enjoys spending time with her two boys, cooking, gardening, and traveling.

Photography credits:

Featured Image Photographer Bill Mauzy https://www.mauzyphotography.com/

Photograph of Danielle Brown by photographer Sarah Cramer Sheilds https://www.sarahcramershields.com/

 

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