Tree & Shrub Maintenance

• If there are trees and shrubs which have incurred damage from ice storms or heavy snow now would be an ideal time to prune and remove the damaged areas.
  • Use a pruning saw for broken branches larger than an inch, Corona and Felco make great pruning saw products.
  • For branches 1 inch and smaller use hand pruners which Corona and Felco also make in an array of styles such as by-pass or anvil.
• If you have landscape plants near walkways and driveways which become slippery this time of year use ice melt products instead of salt to minimize plant damage in the spring. The Dow Company makes 2 great products, Peladow and Combotherm, both will melt the ice without damaging plants when use as directed. If this isn’t a concern, regular Halite Salt Crystals will do the job as effectively but has the potential to injure plants if used near them.
• Use GardenTech Rootone to root cuttings of plants like red twig dogwood and forsythia. Herbaceous (non-woody) plants are the easiet to root; deciduous shrubs are the second easiest. Deciduous and evergreen trees and evergreen and shrubs are the hardest and least likely to survive.

Insect & Disease

• Bonides All Seasons Oil can assist in the control of Hemlock wooly adelgid. This insect remains active all winter.
• There are no active diseases at this time.

Flower/Vegetable Garden

• If you have any small indoor plants that need repotting, Danko produces small decorative indoor clay pots for paper whites, orchids, mini-conifers, etc.
• Bonsai plants require continuous maintenance and because they are small, normal pruning hand tools might be too large for the job, use maintenance tools specifically designed for Bonsai plants to increase the survival of your Bonsai.
• Now is a great time to re-pot any orchids or Bonsai plants that have become overgrown, use Hoffman’s Bonsai Soil when transplanting.
• Indoor plants look great with the addition of either mulch or a decorative stone on the soil surface. Hoffman makes bags of Coast fir bark, White Stone Chips, and Desert Sand which can make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Wildlife

• Many natural food sources that birds rely on have been exhausted by the winter so feeding birds in your garden becomes more important. Lyric Bird produces many types of seed like Nyjer and Sunflower Seed to attract a wide range of birds.
• C and S Suet is great for wild birds in the winter as it provides a high caloric energy source for surviving cold winter nights.
• Droll Yankees bird feeders are ideal to put up for your birds to enjoy a tasty treat.
• Use Havahart products to protect your feeders from predators and bird seed scavengers.

Pond Care

• Visually inspect pond deicers to make sure they are still working and maintaining a hole in the pond for gas exchange.