January 2006 Reflection

                            
For many people, January signals the time to plant new plants and seeds for the Spring; but for most gardeners, January is the month for pruning plants, shrubs, and trees to rejuvenate and start another round of garden life.

Winter pruning is the time-honored approach for stimulating new shoots and subsequent flowering and fruiting; while summer pruning controls excessive and overly vigorous growth.

Pruning is first and foremost a simple care-taking task. Careless pruning is likely to promote more vegetative growth than you want, while artful pruning will result in more flowering and fruit production. Many plants depend on pruning of one type or another for their health, vigor, and balance to increase healthy flowering and boost the quantity and quality for fruit-bearing trees. Just as plants need this simple care-taking task, so do human beings discover that January is a month of letting go of the old (pruning) and initiating the new (planting seeds).