Start coleus cuttings now for transplanting in spring

If you have kept a coleus as a houseplant, you still have time to start cuttings for transplanting to the garden in spring.

Use a sharp, clean knife or a pair of pruners to cut a 5- or 6-inch piece from the end of a stem, making the cut just below a leaf node. Remove the lowest leaves, dip the cut end into a rooting hormone and insert it into some fresh, sterile potting soil. Coleus cuttings will also readily root in a glass of water.

Once a small mass of roots has developed, transplant each cutting to a pot with growing medium and keep the soil moist while the plants develop. In the middle of May, when the danger of frost is past, gradually acclimate the coleus plants to the outside environment by leaving them outdoors for an increasing time each day over a period of a week or so. Be sure to avoid direct sun at first, so the leaves do not burn.

Pruning large tree limbs

When pruning a large limb from a tree, use a sharp saw and a three-cut process. Begin by making an undercut to keep the heavy limb from splitting and breaking off, which could damage the trunk. Make this undercut about 4 inches out from the trunk, cutting from the bottom up about one-third of the way through the limb.

Make the next cut, which removes the limb, an inch or so outside the undercut. Cut from the top all the way through the branch. Be careful to stay out of the way of the falling limb.

Make the final cut to remove the branch stub. Do not make this cut flush with the trunk, but just outside the branch collar (the place where the branch is enlarged close to the main trunk). It is generally not recommended to paint the wound.

Pruning raspberries

Raspberries can grow into a tangled mess and produce poorly if they are not pruned properly.

When you prune will depend on when your variety of raspberry bears its fruit. Now is the time to prune fall-fruiting raspberries (which have one crop between August and October). Most autumn-fruiting varieties produce fruit on new wood in their first year of growth.

Cut the old canes as close to the ground as possible, so that buds for new canes will break from below the surface of the soil. If the canes are not cut low enough, weak and undesirable side branches may sprout from the stubs of the old canes.

Summer-fruiting varieties usually fruit on wood in the second year of growth, and thus require different pruning techniques. For advice on pruning summer-fruiting raspberries, contact the Chicago Botanic Garden's Plant Information Service (chicagobotanic.org/plantinfoservice).

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