From Lisa Johnson, Dane County UW-Extension horticulture educator:

Trees and shrubs: For most woody plants, now is the time for major pruning to begin. Oaks and elms that should not be pruned from April to November (to avoid attracting insects that spread oak wilt and Dutch elm disease) can now be pruned safely. You can stagger your pruning chores from now through the end of March—it doesn’t all need to be done at once. Also, no more than 25 percent of the canopy should be removed at any one time. There are some woody plants you should not prune now. Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs such as lilacs, fothergilla, spring-flowering dogwood, forsythia, weigela or viburnums at this time of year unless you are willing to sacrifice this year’s floral display. However, if significant pruning needs to be done on overgrown specimens of these shrubs, it is best to do it now so you can better see the form of the shrub without leaves being in your way.

For more on pruning, visit the Wisconsin Horticulture Team website http://hort.uwex.edu/topics/trees-shrubs for fact sheets featuring this information.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/lifestyles/home_and_garden/garden-calendar-for-the-week-of-jan/article_efc9db8b-fb86-5ac1-b6b8-5a0b153bf824.html#ixzz2r2mlX6Px

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