LAST WEEK, BETWEEN edits on my next book, I gathered some friends and the proper tools and pruned–trying to erase more damage from last October’s snowstorm, and also the general stuff one needs to do late winter here each year.  Lots more to go, but we’re off to a good start–which got me thinking you might be wondering what to prune when and how. That’s the topic of this week’s radio podcast–and also of some useful stories in the A Way to Garden archives:

 Pruning Basics: This Week’s Podcast

Pruning was the topic of the latest weekly radio podcast I do with WHDD in nearby Sharon, CT, the nation’s smallest NPR station. Stream it from WHDD’s archive, or get it on iTunes (it’s the March 19 segment) or on the Stitcher app.

From the Archives:

  • New to pruning, or just a little rusty? Start with the pruning FAQs page.
  • Every year I’m asked repeatedly by reader why some flowering shrub or other failed to bloom, and often the answer is: You pruned it at the wrong time and cut off its flower buds. What I prune when.
  • Fruit trees are a whole topic to themselves (though included in the FAQ above). Here’s what I do with them.
  • Ditto lilacs, and they’re handled on the FAQ, too–but also here.