Spring 2025 is finally here, and garden lovers across the region are eager to get their hands in the soil. As we celebrate National Garden Month, there’s no better time to step outside and give your garden the care it deserves—starting with proper pruning.
April is National Garden Month
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, April is recognized as National Garden Month. One of the most important early spring tasks? Pruning—an essential step in preparing your plants, trees, and shrubs for a healthy, vibrant growing season.
Expert Help from Down to Earth Living
To help you get started, Down to Earth Living in Pomona is sharing expert pruning tips to ensure your garden not only thrives but looks its absolute best this season.
Why Spring Pruning Matters
Just as gardeners prepare their tools and supplies for the spring season, it’s equally important to take stock of which plants need pruning. Spring is the ideal time to remove dead, damaged, or diseased stems and to reshape shrubs that have become overgrown or unruly. Giving your plants a good “haircut” not only tidies up their appearance but also promotes healthy new growth and encourages more vibrant flowers, lush foliage, and colorful stems throughout the season.
When and How to Prune Specific Plants
Roses that bloom only once per year should be treated like other spring-blooming shrubs—prune them after they finish flowering. For repeat bloomers such as hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras, pruning is typically done to shape the plant and remove any winter-damaged canes. If these varieties become overgrown, it’s best to cut them back in early spring.
Hedges like beech and cherry laurel, as well as boxwood topiaries, should be pruned after they have fully leafed out in early spring. This allows you to shape them based on how they will grow through the season. For many evergreens, which produce new growth only at the tips of branches, wait until their spring growth is complete before pruning. This gives the plant the rest of the growing season to develop new buds and fill out.
Young fruit trees benefit from early pruning—as soon as buds begin to form—to shape the tree and help direct energy toward fruit production. Perennial herbs like rosemary, oregano and sage grow leggy and woody over time and benefit from being pruned in spring as growth begins.
Pruning Tips
- For best results, use high-quality pruning tools that have been cleaned and sharpened since last season. Sharp, well-maintained tools make cleaner cuts, which help plants heal faster and reduce the risk of disease. Bypass pruners—which work like scissors—are recommended over anvil pruners, which can crush stems rather than making a clean, precise cut.
- Remove any dead, diseased, or damaged stems, as they can attract insects and increase the risk of plant diseases. It’s also important to eliminate crossing branches, water sprouts, and suckers.
- Make each cut just above a node—the point where leaves, buds, or shoots emerge from the stem. This allows you to guide new growth in the direction you want, since nodes are positioned on alternating sides of the stem.
- Always make cuts at a slight downward angle so that rainwater can run off the wound easily. Flat cuts can collect moisture, increasing the risk of infection and creating the perfect conditions for fungal diseases to develop.
- After pruning, mulch plants with a generous layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure, to give them a boost. This helps retain moisture, suppress weeds, and provide essential nutrients to support strong new growth.
Have you been to Down to Earth Living? This gracious outdoor living furnishings and beautiful home decor store is located in Pomona, New York (Rockland County), a short drive from Bergen, Orange, Westchester, and Fairfield Counties.
The garden center at Down to Earth Living is filled with perennials, flowers, shrubs, and trees, with new arrivals coming in every week. The 10,000 square foot showroom has an incredible selection of contemporary, classic, traditional, and transitional teak, aluminum and all-weather dining and deep-seated furniture, as well as home décor. When you visit, the helpful team at Down to Earth Living is available to offer helpful garden pruning tips.
Located at 1040 Route 45, Down to Earth Living is open 9:00 am-5:00 pm daily. For more information, call 845-354-8500 or visit dteliving.com.
Spring Gardening Prep: Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden All Season Long! Read more…
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