If you’ve been considering upgrading or adding to your landscaping, winter is a good time to the have work done. Most hardscaping (paving, retaining walls, decks, sprinkler systems, and drainage) can be installed, unless it is pouring rain. Actually with drainage work, the extra water makes it more obvious where there are problems. The root systems on plants are dormant, so trees and shrubs can be planted or moved with less transplant shock. We’ve had great luck moving large Japanese laceleaf maples this time of year before they start to leaf out.

Did this winter’s ice and snow smash your New Zealand flax and your ornamental grasses? If you haven’t already cut back the dead foliage on your grasses, flaxes, and perennials, bundle up on one of these sunny afternoons and go at it. Cut most everything back to the crown of the plant. Cutting off the old fronds of your sword ferns and last year’s Hellebore foliage will give you lush, gorgeous ferns and Hellebors in a few weeks. Winter is also pruning time for fruit trees and ornamental trees in your garden. We recommend waiting to prune roses and hydrangeas until late February, when we’re less likely to get hard freezes.