We’re not here to comment on anyone’s specific opinions or tastes, but we will bring our Florida perspective to this conversation and let you know that, in our expert opinion, pruning your Florida plants (except for some specific plants, that is—we’re looking at you, evergreens), mid-to-late winter is truly the best time to prune.
Why is that you ask?
That’s exactly what we’re here to answer. We’ve spent the last 20+ years perfecting our landscaping craft—and we’re here to share all that knowledge with you!
Let’s talk winter and pruning and answer that age-old question—why is winter the best time to prune your Florida plants?
Well, for those plants that shed their leaves before the cold months arrive, the answer is really obvious. When your plants shed their leaves for the cold months, they’re bare—which leaves you with plenty of visibility and a direct clue as to where you can cut. Without bushy leaves in your way, you’re getting a clear shot of what’s going down so you can cut and prune properly.
But that’s not the only reason—there are actually quite a few great reasons backing why winter pruning is the best for your Florida plants.
One of the most important ones is that most plants go into the dormant mode during the Winter.
You probably know what dormant means, but for the sake of explanation, we’ll share it with you anyway. A dormant state is when your plant’s normal physical functions are suspended or slowed down—think of it like your plants are going for a good, long sleep. In essence, this means that if you’re cutting and pruning in the winter/ dormant state, they will have enough time until the Spring comes to recover and use the pruning as the perfect excuse to grow denser and lusher than before.
Another bonus reason? Most of the pests and diseases are also less active during the colder months, which leaves your plants at a smaller risk of getting attacked and damaged.
Pruning your garden plants during the Winter will help them rejuvenate and become stronger—not to mention more beautiful (and we know that counts).
On the other hand, pruning is also used to reduce the size of some plants or to lead their growth in a direction you want or need. Also, pruning dead parts of plants (especially trees) help you increase the safety of your own landscape.
Obviously, you’ll want to hire professionals if you’re dealing with a large estate, HOA areas, or commercial properties (for expertise, of course). Plus, if you need to prune tall trees, or if the plants that are dangerously close to the installations or buildings, experts will be a must-pick in these situations, too.
But, pruning smaller plants in your Florida garden is something you can easily do yourself if you follow the tips.
Don’t prune plants that show signs of blooming. This is especially the case for some more exotic garden flowers or shrubs that flower exceedingly early in the Spring (or even late in the Winter). Pruning these plants will expose them to such stress – that they probably won’t bloom until the next blooming season. Plus, they’ll be more susceptible to pests and diseases over the next few months.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not worried about you getting your plants dirty (that’s funny, right?), but we are concerned about transmitting diseases. If you don’t disinfect your plants properly, you can actually spread diseases from tools to plant (to other plants) and the process could damage your plants beyond repair.
Plus, if there are dangerous chemicals on your tools, you definitely don’t want to mess with that and getting it on your plants.
Before you go all prune-happy, listen up—you don’t want to go crazy. Yes, this is the best time to get your prune on, but you don’t want to prune too much or too hard—otherwise, you could risk ruining your precious Florida plants.
Most plants aren’t going to get too upset if you chop off more than you should, but that’s not really the issue. If you go overboard on pruning, you can upset your plants, but most likely, you’re going to make them look super weird. Most people think that pruned plants just look weird during their pruning stages—but here’s the deal, they don’t have to.
If you prune excessively, you’re going to leave your plants looking naked, funky, and really funny looking. It’s also possible that they won’t fully recover from their chop season or they’ll take a lot longer than necessary to recover.
At the end of the day, it’s better to under-prune than over prune You can always go back in and shave a little more off—but you can’t add anything back once you take it away. So, be cautious!
Most plants won’t be that “mad” if you chop off more than you should. But, when inexperienced people prune – they usually prune excessively. The result? Your plants will look weirdly naked, and probably
Use these colder months to prepare your garden plants for the next growing season. Remember the tips, stay safe, and, most importantly, have fun pruning your plants.Not sure where to start when it comes to pruning your plants in the winter? Don’t stress. This blog was meant to give you some tips, but we’re very aware that it’s not always as easy as reading a blog post and becoming an immediate expert—if it were, we’d be good at a lot of other things, too!
If you’re not so confident in your pruning skills or you’re simply hoping to hire on a professional team that can take care of it for you without any stress on your end, then you’re in the right place. Landcrafters is here for your winter pruning needs! No matter what you need pruning—small shrubs to enormous trees and beyond—we can help you tackle your pruning problems.
We encourage you to reach out to our expert team directly through our contact page or give us a call at (727)-201-3540. When it comes to taking care of your winter pruning, there’s no better Florida expert out there than Landcrafters.
Need more landscape inspo, advice, and insight? Keep up with our regularly updated blog right here for more tips and tricks!