Dormant Pruning - Cutting back to save you trouble.

Dormant Pruning - Cutting back to save you trouble.

By:Jonathan Manning, CLT
A Better Garden Maintenance, LLC
Denver, CO

It is expected to be a high of 51 degrees today and a high of 56 degrees tomorrow in the wonderful city of Denver. With those temperatures and an expected snow on Sunday, these might be the best days to get a little work done in your lawn & garden. As always in this weather it might be a good idea to supplement the water for all the plants in your garden with your hose. (**Rembember to always disconnect your garden water hose from the water spiggot. Possible freeze damage could occur.)



More importantly, now is a great time to perform any necessary dormant pruning. Look for branches in trees which are rubbing against each other. When branches in these trees rub together, over time they present an area on the tree prone to infections. By performing a spot check in your yard and taking the necessary action. I mean either pruning the trees yourself of contacting a professional to take care your gardening needs for you. Much can be saved in the way of time, money or both when later you will need the tree removed due to disease. The other items you should be checking for is both broken branches and sap.



A lot of times you will not see any borer holes or any other symptoms of disease, but there will still be sap coming from a tree. Sometimes what people believe is sap is really an excrement from an insect such as an aphid. This resinous substance is actually known as "honeydew" (This will be discussed at a later blog). Sap though is a 'flare' or 'red flag' from the plant to let you know something is wrong. If you are unsure what you are looking at, consult your local tree expert. A Better Garden Maintenance, LLC only will prune what is approximately within 15 feet of the ground or to where our tools will reach. We recommend Davey Tree Care for large trees, ask for Derek Fox and tell him Jonathan sent you.



Remember, a little extra effort now can save you a load of time and money down the road. Let us know if we can help you have A Better Garden.