Kathy Henderson Columnist

  Except for fruit trees, vines and shrubs, such as apples, persimmons, pears, grapes, muscadines, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc., most pruning is for the attractiveness of the plant and how it appears in the landscape. So, for this column, I am going to attack the latter aspect of pruning. If you have a fruiting plant, please go online or to your extension service and get a pamphlet for the exact details for your specific plant.

Nandina can be pruned in late winter. Special photo

  This is the time of year that most people should begin thinking about most pruning procedures. If you have already severely pruned your plants in the fall, you were a little premature and may lose the plant or at least, you have looked at the stump stubble for a long time. Late February is a good time to cut back those broadleaf evergreen shrubs that have just gotten too large for their area. Specifically these are the hollies that always seem to outgrow the spaces that we allotted them. Most varieties will take this brutal pruning and respond by putting on new growth in March. You do not need to use a pruning paint. Try to keep the shape of the shrub in mind and keep the chain saw in the garage. Instead, use a pruning saw or loppers (long-handled pruners). I prefer a knife cut pruner always.

  If your large Indian azaleas have become too large, they will respond beautifully to pruning back, rather radically, but do this after they bloom. At that time apply an azalea fertilizer and mulch well. With adequate fertilization and water, these plants will flourish and bloom better than ever. Actually, it is wise to fertilize all your shrubs with a slow-release fertilizer after you prune.

  Cut back the long fruiting stems of Nandina to the ground. This will remove the stems with the berries, leaving the shorter, newer growth. Then if you need to shorten the Nandina even more, cut back more tall stems to the ground. Do not cut them back half-way; this will make them look bare-legged and gangly. By cutting them all the way back, they will sprout from the ground and give you a full, rounded, leafy plant. Pruning your plants this way will make you a fan of Nandina. You can do the same thing with Mahonia after you have enjoyed the winter blossoms. I happen to like the bare stem look of my Mahonias. The yellow blooms are making my garden sparkle even on the gloomiest days of winter.

  A simple rule-of-thumb when trying to decide when to prune plants is to prune those plants that bloom before June 1, as soon as they have finished blooming (unless you want to save the seed or fruit). These would include such plants as Forsythia, Quince, Spiraea, azaleas, and others. Prune those plants that bloom after June 1 in late winter. These would include Crepe Myrtles, Vitex, Butterfly bushes, Hydrangeas and other summer-flowering trees and shrubs.

  Be careful with hollies that you want to produce a bounty of berries. Those bloom in early spring and you want to preserve those blossoms to get the berries, so pick and choose the limbs that you prune. You might want to consider this pruning a thinning process.

   One of the reasons for pruning in the late winter is to control where you want the spring growth to occur. Also, you will get new growth very soon after you prune.

  Next week I expose a criminal act that is occurring now in Henry County. I think the perpetrator should be punished to the full extent of the law.