Not everything needs a trim just yet! Early spring offers a great opportunity to clean up your landscape, but knowing what to prune—and when—can make all the difference in your garden's success.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet to help you decide:

✅ Go ahead and prune:
– Ornamental grasses: Cut them back to a few inches to make way for new growth.
– Dead wood from trees: Remove damaged or lifeless branches to improve tree health and safety.
– Summer-blooming shrubs: Plants like crape myrtle and butterfly bush bloom on new wood, so now’s the perfect time to prune for a fuller, more vibrant display later in the season.

🛑 Hold off on pruning:
– Spring bloomers: Shrubs like azaleas, forsythia, and lilac form their flower buds the previous year. Pruning now will cut off this season’s blooms—wait until after they flower to shape or trim.
– Plants already showing buds: Leave these alone for now to ensure you don’t lose those early-season blossoms.

Proper pruning now = stronger growth and better blooms later.
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