What’s on your garden calendar in January? Time to make your garden plans for spring and continue with dormant season pruning while plants and trees will be less stressed. It’s also a great time to call in expert arborists to assess trees and shrubs, too.

The PbD team works on dormant trees and shrubs and Adele is an ISA certified Arborist. In winter months, we are better able to view the architecture and branch attachments to maintain the strongest and work to eliminate the weaker ones, so the tree or shrub can have a healthy balance. We are always careful not to damage branch collars when we prune. And of course, right now we can look for previous insect damage and get rid of the dead wood! Timing and precision are important. Here’s a short list of January pruning items in the Mid-Atlantic region:

SHADE TREES : oak, hickory, beech, black gum, poplar, sycamore, ginkgo

“BLEEDER TREES” : birch, dogwood, elm, maple, & styrax

TREE PRUNING CALENDAR from North Carolina Cooperative Extension Office / NC A&T University

WONDERFUL SHRUB CALENDAR from Virginia Tech Extension Office

Even in January, be on the lookout for Fall Cankerworm.