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Trim shrubs now to keep them proper size

Winter is a good time to prune trees and shrubs. Heavy pruning of overgrown, deciduous woody shrubs can be done this month and next to rejuvenate them.

Start by removing all dead wood and prune old canes off at ground level, leaving young canes. You may need to cut back the young growth if it is spindly. If there are not any young canes present, then cut the large canes back to 2 to 3 feet from the ground. This will be unsightly, but if the plants are healthy, extensive new growth should start from the old canes in spring and fill in the plant.

Shrubs such as lilacs that formed flower buds last summer will not bloom in spring when pruned aggressively in the previous winter.

• Consider using a free-standing plastic composter to compost in your garden. Continue putting organic material from the kitchen in the composter during the winter. Because it keeps the material secured, dogs and other animals cannot get into it.

Compost is the end product of composting, a process where organic matter is collected, mixed and allowed to decompose. Compost can be used to amend soil or as a mulch layer on garden beds and around trees.

In nature, deciduous leaves create a mulch layer that eventually decomposes. Like human-made compost, this natural recycling process returns nutrients to the soil and improves soil structure, and it is one reason why native plants growing in natural ecosystems usually do not need more fertilizer than nature provides.

Composting reduces the amount of garden debris that ends up in landfills and improves your garden's soil.

• Check garden beds to be sure plants have not heaved out of the ground due to freeze-thaw-freeze cycles that can occur in late February. Gently press the crowns of perennials back into the ground but avoid compacting the soil by stomping heavily around plants. Applying a layer of mulch will help prevent additional frost heaving and protect any heaved plants until later in spring when they can be properly replanted.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.

Trimming back woody shrubs promotes new growth and helps rejuvenate them.
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