SOPHIE: Absolutely, but it’s best to prune lightly – most don’t respond well to a heavy prune. If you cut too deeply, you’ll reveal the hard dry wood at the centre of the tree, where there is no fresh ...

Generally speaking, conifers are trees and shrubs with needles that set seeds in cones. Yews, junipers and ginkgos produce cones, too, but they’re fleshy and appear berry-like. Ginkgos are ...

“Prune a conifer?” you ask. Well, as Dylan Thomas said, we need “to begin at the beginning.” Conifers are cone-bearing trees that produce tiny pollen cones in spring followed later by more substantial ...

Q: In December, I passed a rhododendron in full bloom. Is that normal? A: There are a few rhododendron varieties that bloom in the heart of winter. You probably saw R. ‘Rosamundi’ or R. ‘Christmas ...

February is a very busy time for me in the garden. Where I live, we have gotten more rain than normal and I have not been able to do as much pruning as usual so on the pretty days, I have had to do ...

Spring is the time to clean up the garden after winter and prepare it for a new season. One of the preparation steps is pruning plants. Many spring-flowering shrubs become straggly and horribly ...