The goal of pruning is to improve the overall health and usefulness of a plant: Prune to correct broken or damaged branches. Prune to remove diseased portions of a plant. Prune to control the size and shape of a plant. Prune fruit trees to keep it easier to harvest the delicious fruit. Pruning by the Pros Plant materials grown by a quality grower will have been pruned correctly from the start, so you shouldn’t need to worry about corrective pruning for a while. A good example is shrubs. Plant nursery staff work to encourage branching lower to the ground, so the plants don’t have voids and aren’t "leggy". For trees, the nurseries prune for nice straight single leaders and uniform, open branching. Tree Pruning Tips After you plant your trees, you should pay attention to your plants as they grow and develop. Some corrective pruning may be necessary on trees to maintain a single central leader. As soon as you see another branch develop that is competing with the main stem, eliminate it right away. Some species of trees will grow denser with more branches and you may want to thin out a few branches to allow more wind to blow through the plant for improved air circulation. Plants that have been thinned a bit also offer less wind resistance and may be less susceptible to storm damage as they grow and mature. Pay attention to the overall shape of the tree. In many areas, trees can become windswept from the prevailing westerly winds. These winds may push branches to the east side of the plant. You may end up having to head back (or shorten up) a few of the longer branches if they develop outside of the normal length that you would like to see. Shorten up the branch by cutting it back to another branch or to another bud that will continue in its place. IF your tree gets damaged from wind or snow loads, selectively remove the broken branches by cutting them back to existing branches. Trees are pretty amazing in that if a large portion of a tree does get damaged, they do amazingly enough respond by filling in that part of the tree faster than you think. Shrub Pruning Made Simple If it flowers in spring, wait to prune. Don’t prune spring blooming shrubs in fall, or you’ll cut off all the flower buds. Shrubs that bloom late winter or early spring are blooming on last year’s wood. Don’t prune them until after their flowers open, wither and turn brown next spring. If you wait for the flowers to finish and THEN prune, you will not eliminate any flowering. Some plants that you should hold off pruning including Serviceberry, Magnolia, Redbud, Flowering Quince, Forsythia, Lilacs, Wisteria, Rhododendrons, Flowering Cherries and Crabapples, and early blooming Spiraea types. Enjoy the bloom and then do any corrective pruning if necessary. There are a few shrubs which bloom on new wood and flowers will be produced in the new growth that develops in spring. Trim the Spiraea bumalda types like Goldmound, Goldflame, Froebelii, and all of the new Double Play selections back to about half way just before they start to grow. They will bloom wildly and after that set of flowers if you dead head them will bloom wildly again for you. Thin Out Old Shrubs to Bring Them Back to Life When you have a large, old shrub that isn’t flowering as well as it used to, or has outgrown its space, you may need to consider using the renewal pruning method. This method can take several years, but you’ll love the results. In year one, you’ll prune out 1/3 of your shrub. Select the oldest, fattest stems and prune them right to the ground. This is called a thinning cut. Leave the younger thinner stems to remain. In year two, you’ll select another 1/3 of your shrub to thin out. Again, select the oldest, fattest stems and prune them to the ground. Do the same in year three. Renewal pruning is an excellent way to rejuvenate the shrubs without sacrificing the flowers or the fruit. This technique works beautifully for Aronia, Cotoneaster, Red and Yellow twigged Dogwood, Ninebark, Lilacs, Viburnums, Mockorange, Weigela, and shrub Willows. All of these plants should be maintained with stems that are younger than five years old. Renewal pruning keeps the plants more juvenile, so they are less prone to disease, and produce more flowers and if the plants fruit – more fruit too. It also reduces the height and the plants are less leggy with more branches and foliage closest to the ground. Renewal pruning allows the plants to grow in their most natural form. Keep Shrubs Small with Heading Cuts Sometimes shrubs need to have some stems shortened up. This pruning method is called heading back. It is used to reduce excessive growth to keep the overall size and form of deciduous shrubs. It is important to use sharp pruning tools so the cuts on the plants are clean and smooth. Clean cuts heal fast. Use bypass hand-held pruners and cut just above a leaf or needle at 45 degree angle. Try to keep the cut parallel to the branch. You want to avoid horizontal cuts, which can hold water and lead to problems down the road. Heading back is also used for Japanese Yews and spreading Juniper types. Snipping back the longest new growth on these evergreens causes them to branch and encourages thicker new growth. Pruning Hydrangea Types Smooth hydrangeas include Annabelle and Invincibelle series. Cut these selections down to the ground each spring. Paniculata hydrangeas should be pruned back by a third in spring. For Macrophylla hydrangeas, it is best to wait to see where the plants are starting to grow and only prune out winter damaged portions. Oakleaf hydrangeas can be selectively pruned after flowering is done in spring. Cut broken or dead wood as close to the main stem as possible. Renewal prune the oldest stems to the ground. Shearing Hedges Hedges are living walls used to define an area, to screen off unsightly views, provide wildlife habitats, or even create barriers to dissuade any foot traffic. Hedges can be short or tall, sheared formal, or left untrimmed and natural no matter the size. Hedges are plants installed close enough together to allow them to touch. Each plant in the hedge will have foliage on two sides and the top. For all hedge plants, it is important to always keep the bottoms of the hedge a bit wider than the top of the hedge. Hedges that are maintained wider at the base helps to keep the foliage healthy right to the ground making a nice solid screen. Plants that are wider at the tops can become leggy and open holes across the bottom, which defeats the purpose of a hedge. Informal hedges are not sheared across the top and sides but are instead allowed to grow naturally. Lilacs make classic informal hedges in open sunny areas. Some other plants that would work well as an informal untrimmed hedge should include Weigela, Viburnums, Forsythia, Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons, and Azaleas. Formal hedges are plants that are planted close to each other and then sheared wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. Some classic hedge plants include Privet, Boxwood, Burning Bush, Holly, Distylium, and Arborvitae to name a few. These plants will need to be sheared to maintain a more formal look. Electric shears are helpful tool, but please don’t forget the fundamentals of pruning. If you only rely on electric shears, you’ll eventually have a plant with a lot of exterior bud growth, but a dead interior. Be sure to thin the interior of your plant regularly by cutting dead branches off at the ground to rejuvenate the plant. Plants need light and air, so selectively head off branches by hand all along the entire length of the hedge. Some plants like a burning bush puts on only one flush of growth in the spring and that is all they will grow that season, so they only need shearing one time. Others like Privet may need trimming several times to keep the plants looking neat and tidy. Pruning Pine Trees Use the Candle Pruning method to prune pine trees. When the spring temperatures start the pine trees to start putting on new growth, the tips of the branches elongate, and it resembles a pencil. To keep pine trees small, this new growth should be broken about in half with your fingers. Do this in spring before any green needles show on that new growth. Breaking the new growth doesn’t harm the emerging needles. It simply lets the new bud to form and shortens up the finished growth by about half for the season. Extreme Pruning Love pruning? Try your hand at “Ninja Master” level techniques, which includes Bonsai and Specialized Topiary. Or, get a head start with our expertly shaped DoorScapes specialized topiary collection.

Before your fire up your weed eaters and trimmers and rampage through your yard cutting down and removing everything in sight this fall, stop! Take a step back. It’s time to reconsider your winter clean up protocol.  Let’s take a look and change your perspective to see your winter landscape in a new way. You don’t need to cut everything down. Do you have any perennials or other plants that may offer winter interest if you left them untrimmed until after winter? What Does Your Landscape Look Like in Winter? Evergreens, ornamental grasses and hydrangeas definitely offer winter interest. Perennials can also add interest to the winter landscape, so don’t be too quick to cut them down. Study shapes, colors and form. Not all dormant regions get dumped with snow. Some regions have lighter snowfalls that can highlight and sculpt the snow, creating something pretty to look at on those cold winter days. Do you have plants with berries or seed heads that remain on the plants? They not only look great but provide food for birds and other wildlife. Leaving last year’s growth also gives songbirds a place to snuggle in for some protection from the cold and wind. The tops of the perennials catch the snow to insulate the ground over the top of the plants. Leaving some of your natives and perennials up for the winter gives the beneficial insects a place to overwinter. If you simply cut your perennial garden down to the ground in fall, you don’t have much to look at, no way to catch the blowing snow, no cover for songbirds and wildlife, no place for beneficial insects, and no seed heads left to feed the birds. Vegetable Plants, Annuals and Peonies Should Be Removed Did you know viruses can overwinter on the leaves and stems of vegetables and annual plants that only live a single season? For veggies and annuals plants, dig up and remove the entire plant to lessen the risk of disease and improve sanitation. Compost them or put them in your Yard Waste containers. One perennial that does need to be trimmed down early fall of each year are Peonies. Peonies can get mildew and botrytis. Cut every Peony stem to the ground and bag them up for removal. This can eliminate the carryover of the problems that might re-infect the plants the following spring. Also remove any perennials that had leaf spotting, mildew or disease problems of any kind. Cut them down to the ground after the frost has killed off the tops of the plants, bag them up and remove them from your yard for best sanitation practices. Remember, you don’t have to cut all of your perennials down to the ground each fall, just any one that showed some problems this past growing season. Rose Care in Autumn It is very important to leave your rose bushes untrimmed for the winter months. Do not cut your roses until spring! Rose bushes left untrimmed may have rose hips that are showy all winter long and if not, the branches will catch the snow and add insulation to your rose plant. Roses love to have additional insulation in colder regions The old fashioned method of overwintering roses was to cover them with rose cones. Today the easiest method is to pile on a mound of shredded hardwood mulch about a foot high directly on the stems of the plants. In spring pull the mulch away and THEN cut them in the spring. Using this method, if there was some winter damage, you will cut and remove it. Flowering Shrub Care in Autumn Know the best time to prune your shrubs. Don’t trim the plants which bloom on last . Do not trim these shrubs in the fall: Flowering Quince, Forsythia, Rhododendrons & Azaleas, Prunus family, Weigela, all Lilacs and Magnolias. Wait until after they bloom in spring. Wait to trim until after the flowers fade. A Better Way to Handle Leaves in Fall Remember how we used to bag leaves them up and put them in the trash? What a chore that was! There is a better way. Leaves on the grass should be mowed over, shredding them so they don’t mat and cover the grass. Keep mowing your grass until the leaves are chewed up and shredded. Compost them after shredding or used them as mulch around your garden. Put those leaves to good use! Watering in Fall Lastly, don’t forget to keep giving all of your newly planted trees and shrubs a good drink of water right up until they go dormant. Evergreens give off water all winter long so if you are in an area where the ground freezes up, be sure to water the roots well until the ground does freeze for best results. Following the tips listed above should assist you preparing your yard for a restful winter season, ready and waiting for you in the spring. Enjoy your winter garden!

  Have you spied the hottest new garden design trend in your neighborhood? It’s time to start changing out your container gardens to reflect the beauty of each season! Transforming container gardens at your front door and your patio is easy and fun. Use featured, seasonal plant materials to help you celebrate every season at your home. Seasonal Container Gardens Make Beautiful Memories A few weeks ago, we gave you easy tips and tricks for the latest trends in container gardens for the height of the summer season. How have your container gardens weathered the summer? Perhaps it’s time to do a bit of freshening up of your pots. Some annuals outgrow their space, leaving leggy growth with fewer leaves and limited flowering. Now is the time to start popping some of your tired plants out of your containers. Fill back in with flowering kale, mums and asters, ornamental grasses, fresh pansies, alyssum or ornamental peppers. These are all excellent choices! Don't be afraid to use perennials in your containers. Nestle wild-looking gourds and jazzy pumpkins into the design and placed at the base of your containers for a welcome autumn transformation. Fun Fall House Decor For fall decorations, place pumpkins in a hanging basket. Paint a series of pumpkins with blackboard chalk, then use white paint to spell out a welcoming message that visitors will read as they head towards your door. Paint the stems of your pumpkins with exterior gold paint to add a bit of bling. Start scouring garage sales to upcycle old garden tools, such as rakes, shovels or hand cultivators. Tie a funky collection together with burlap ribbon and place it next to your fall containers. We’ve even seen old ironing boards, wheelbarrows and ladders used to create a very effective fall display. Have fun decorating for this short season! Use tiny trees in seasonal containers both inside and out. Check out the web and around town for fantastic ideas to springboard from and make them your own. Enjoy! Try Using Live Trees as Living Seasonal Décor Nature Hills has something special for your home this year. We’ve taken popular evergreens like junipers, hollies and spruce trees and expertly trimmed them into specialty topiary forms. What incredible living decorations you’ll love from fall all the way through winter! Now is the time to try those elegant spiral forms, spirited pom poms or festive pyramidal forms to highlight the beauty of the season at your home. Dress them up for each holiday!

  At Nature Hills, we offer huge numbers of amazing plant material options. Every plant is best suited to a specific growing condition. Please be careful to select plants that are hardy for your immediate area.  Just enter your zip code in the box on our website which will give you the proper hardiness zone. Read the Plant Facts to make sure the plant will grow well in your unique site. Eliminating the Sale of Invasive or Diseased Plants Across Restricted Areas One of our biggest jobs is to manage around government plant restrictions at the state and local level. Unfortunately, plants can behave in a highly invasive way in certain climates. Plants in some areas may have been exposed to insects, viruses, or diseases. We have to protect the property owner against infestation.  It’s not worth the environmental and property risk to transmit plants with virus or disease or move known pests into an area that does not have the problem. Russian Olive Alternative Sometimes a plant like Russian Olive becomes susceptible to a fungus that makes the plants look terrible. They can also be very weedy and have been listed as invasive in many different areas.  For that reason, Nature Hills has stopped growing Russian Olive, but we do have a plant option with the same type of soil, hardiness, and climate requirements. Silver Buffaloberry has the same look but isn’t invasive. It also gives you the wonderful bonus of superfruit!  Silver Buffaloberry Plant Highlights: USDA Zone 2-6 Widely Adaptable Soil Conditions Full Sun   Notable characteristics: Decorative silver foliage year round Fall/winter Interest Cold and Wind Tolerant Learn more Staying Compliant with State and Local Restrictions on Plant Material Nature Hills sells plants all across the country, which has its challenges.  We work with every state department of agriculture to ensure that we are completely up to date with all restrictions as each state changes and updates their compliance. Nature Hills hired a full time compliance officer. We have also designed our own proprietary software called Plant Sentry™ to keep tabs on each of the state’s restrictions. We can quickly update all state and federal restrictions on plant movement, and flag potential purchases into restricted areas. As the states modify and update their lists of prohibited or restricted plants, we immediately update these changes. Plant Sentry ensures that we only ship plant materials to your home that are clean, vibrant, and disease free, and are not invasive in your area.  Plant Sentry prevents anyone from ordering and receiving plants that are in violation of each state’s compliance rules.  New Non-Invasive Plants Are A Big Trend Nature Hills is working with breeders to bring plants to market that do not produce any seed, or seed that is not viable. The reason for developing sterile plants or plants that produce little viable seed, so these plants will not become invasive no matter where they are grown. You will notice a trend for many new introductions that are not invasive. We introduced PowderPuff Spirea – a cute, sterile selection - in 2018. PowderPuff Spirea™ Plant Highlights: USDA Zone 4-8 Orange, Red Fall Color Pink, Rasberry Flower Color   Notable characteristics: Seedless Easy to grow Summer blooms Learn more Gain Peace of Mind When You Choose Plants from Nature Hills Property damage from infested or diseased plants is very costly. The time and physical labor it takes to dig out invasive plants is staggering. It’s simply not worth the risk. We are aware that other online companies are sending shipments of plants that are not compliant. They may not even know restrictions exist, and plants that do not have the proper certification or inspections are still being sent out. Nature Hills has taken the initiative to step out in front of this problem. We prevent virus and disease from being spread into areas where they are not yet known to occur. We do not allow the shipment of harmful insects or plants that are invasive in your area. With the development of Plant Sentry, we are able to concentrate our energy on our production areas. We grow super quality plants and ship them in boxes that are engineered to ensure that your plants arrive in excellent condition.  We take pride in knowing that we are doing our best to guarantee the plants we ship are compliant with your state. And since Plant Sentry™ adapts to a constantly changing regulatory environment, we will always be compliant. Happy gardening! .blogList > li{ margin-bottom: .3em; }

Watch our "Fruit Whisperer", as Ed Laivo, one of America's top fruit tree experts, answers Jill Winger's question on how to best care for her new Dwarf Meyer Lemon Tree during the winter. Planting, Managing Pests, Making the Move, Fertilizing & Watering Ed has some really helpful hints for the home gardener in cold climates, like Wyoming (and let's not forget all the other hardy souls living in places like New York, Colorado, Minnesota, and our friends in Illinois!). If you want to grow Citrus Trees, but must bring them inside for the long winter - here's a video overview of what you need to know. Dwarf Meyer Lemons are so much fun to grow, and they'll do well for you inside. Just follow along with Ed for the best practices. Improved Dwarf Meyer Lemon Trees Plant Highlights: Zones 8-11 (Patio 4-11) Medium growing Fruiting Time 3 years   Notable characteristics: Tolerates versatile conditions Fragrant Grow Indoors & Out Learn more Want to see a live unboxing video from The Prairie Homestead? Watch Jill Open her New Dwarf Meyer Lemon from Nature Hills. Read more about Growing Dwarf Citrus Trees at The Prairie Homestead