Prune while waiting for plants to emerge this spring

Many evergreens do not respond well to being aggressively cut back. A good rule of thumb is to avoid cutting below green foliage.

Yews respond to a more drastic cutback into old wood, but they need at least two to three years to fill back in. Consider how long you are willing to wait for the shrubs to look good again after a heavy prune or do a more gradual reduction of the plant's size over a few years until you reach your goal. Sometimes it is better to simply replace an evergreen that is overgrown.

• During most springs, you should begin uncovering hybrid roses in early April by carefully removing mulch from the base. This year, Chicago Botanic Garden staff is considering starting this process about a week early due to the recent warm weather.

Put off this task if there is some very cold weather in the low 20s predicted in coming days. A bamboo stake works well for this task. Leave a small amount of mulch at the base for protection in case of a late hard freeze.

Prune these roses back to live growth, which in some years may leave only 1 to 2 inches of stem.

• Tulips are coming up now and are a favorite for deer browsing. Spray the emerging foliage with a repellent if there are deer active near your garden. Reapply after a heavy rain and monitor the plantings on a regular basis for deer feeding.

• Check garden beds to be sure plants have not heaved out of the ground due to the freeze-thaw-freeze cycles as the weather warms in spring. This generally only happens with small, containerized plants that were installed last year.

Gently press the crowns of perennials back into the ground, but avoid compacting the soil (which can happen when one stomps heavily around plants). Applying a layer of mulch, such as shredded bark mulch, will help prevent additional frost heaving.

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