Updated: April 1st, 2019

Follow these simple steps to make your plants happy this spring!

1. Inspect The Plants and Look for Signs of Damage

Inspecting plants should be a normal late winter to early spring activity no matter what plants you are growing.  You will want to look for physical damage to the bark, roots or limbs, as well as mold formations or fungal infections.  If you have evergreens; is the foliage still green and healthy looking, or is it brown and burnt looking?  From this inspection, you would then need to try and determine if the damage found was from an environmental factor or from a pest.  Identifying pest damages on plants can often be tough, but is imperative in planning for any measure of control or in the recovery of the plant.

2. Prune As Needed

Once your plants have gone dormant they typically are ready to prune.  Certain plants need to be pruned after their spring bloom period so that you do not remove all of your flower buds and lose your spring color.  Do a little research on your plants to be sure of the timing to prune.  Pruning can help to ensure healthy plants with a strong branch structure.  It can also be done to improve sight lines for safety, keeping branches from rubbing against your home, maintaining natural or an ornamental shape (whichever you prefer), plus this helps to train any new plants growth patterns.

3. Add Mulch

We typically have grass growing around our trees and do not allow the trees to mulch themselves (composting of fallen leaves, stems and fruit or nuts). We need to provide a layer of mulch to help preserve soil moisture around the root zone and add nutrients to the soil over time. Mulch can also help to keep some pests at bay.  There are a variety of mulch sources out there so be sure to look into the options, paying attention to color, texture, particle size, and expected longevity.