getting your garden ready for winter

a few simple steps can help make sure your garden looks great all winter and better withstands snow:

• Pruning: structurally prune shrubs and trees to reduce breakage from the weight of snow. Follow American Nurseryman's Association and International Society of Arboriculture recommendations for proper pruning.

• Cut back perennials.

• Edge & Mulch: hand spade-edge planting beds. Install 2 - 3" layer of shredded hardwood bark mulch, keeping mulch away from woody stems and tree trunks.

• Anti-desiccant spray: Apply anti-desiccant to broadleaf evergreen shrubs and trees to protect plants during cold winter months. Apply in late December to January while plants are in dormancy.