Growing Together: A Gardening Podcast · Forum Communications Co.

Get ready, get set...get pruning!

·47 min·1 clip

Never prune in fall - wounds stay open all winter and increase injury risk.

John Lamb opens by checking the yard. He and Don Kinsler compare what the thaw has revealed, from reappearing grass to vole channels, rabbit damage, and a fair amount of rose dieback after a cold winter with snow cover that was not deep enough to protect the rose canes. The conversation settles quickly into pruning. Don explains that most deciduous trees and shrubs are best cut in late winter, after the harshest cold has passed but before spring leaf-out, with the last half of March and into April landing in a good window. Fall pruning gets a gentle warning. The point is not that a fall cut automatically kills a plant, but that waiting usually lowers risk and gives the plant a better chance to recover. Dogwoods come up as a useful example. A branch near a walkway or snowblower can justify a winter cut, especially when the plant is forgiving enough to bounce back. Early bloomers get their own rule. Shrubs such as forsythia need special timing because their spring flowers are already set, so pruning them at the wrong moment can mean cutting off the display. The episode keeps returning to that kind of practical detail, turning plant basics into ordinary yard decisions. The hosts also keep the tone light. They treat pruning as something manageable, something that can usually be handled without drama if a person follows the basics and avoids cutting below ground level. Apple trees get a mention as a special case. Don signals that they deserve their own later discussion, while the broader message stays on leafy trees, shrubs, and dormant-season work. The conversation stays practical to the end. John and Don close by inviting listener emails, including questions about pruning, household plants, and photos of unusual blooms. The episode leaves with a simple rule. Wait for late winter, watch what the plant is doing, and prune with the goal of lowering risk rather than forcing the job early.

As heard by us

A practical pruning conversation centers on late-winter timing, early spring bloomers, and what winter has done to the yard.

This episode treats pruning as a seasonal judgment call, not a fixed chore. John Lamb and Don Kinsler start with what winter has done to the yard, then move through roses, shrubs, and the timing that keeps plants dormant through the coldest stretch.

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Why you'd press play

Wondering whether to prune now or wait for late winter?

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