What a week of beautiful weather. It is a little cooler and more seasonable now but the 70’s that we saw from last Saturday through Wednesday were a great example of a weather phenomenon called Indian summer. But what is Indian summer? Indian summer is described as, a period of dry, unseasonably warm weather in late October or November in the central and eastern United States. 

The term originated in New England in the early 1800’s and has stuck around. Hopefully you were able to get out and enjoy some of it. For me it was a great time to finish some projects outdoors like cleaning the gutters before winter, but also now is the time to start pruning. 

If you have shrubs growing near your house they need to be pruned backed at least ten inches from your house so you have good airflow near the house to prevent mold and mildew from developing on your siding. If the branches get too close and touch the siding it will hold moisture against your siding and create many problems from mildew to insects finding their way is through cracks that may develop.

Aside from shrubs around the house, shrubs in your landscape can now be shaped for better growth in the future. I have small spireas and weigelas in front of my house and every fall I trim them back into nice rounded shrubs. 

During the growing season inevitably some branches will spike some growth and get taller than the rest. I don’t want to cut them during the growing season as they could bleed sap and attract insects. So this time of year I shape them back to the shape and size that I want them to start at next year. Now that we have had some cold nights with frost, their leaves are starting to fall as the branches have gone dormant, so they won’t bleed. This is also the time to manicure your hedges and by doing so you will help them to grow thicker in the future. This works for your trees as well. If your trees are over fifteen feet tall, you probably won’t be pruning them, unless you know someone with a bucket truck. But if you have trees less than fifteen feet that you would like to prune you’ll need a large ladder and a good set of pruners. Pole pruners work well for trees also, so that you don’t need to climb a ladder. 

They have a small saw and most come with a bypass pruning head also. Whatever works best for you is the right choice. For your trees, if you cut a few inches off the top of your trees, they will branch out further from the trunk next year. If you cut a few inches off the sides, the tree will tend to grow taller. Shrubs work that way too. We have a shrub that is very popular every spring called Euonymus that is omnidirectional meaning how you prune it will determine how it grows. If you continue to cut it low it will grow as a groundcover only getting six to eight inches tall but spreading almost eight feet in diameter. 

If you cut the sides it can grow as a vine up the side of your house, but beware as it grows it produces rootholds which attach to your siding and can cause damage. But if you have a brick or stone face home this can be an attractive vine. If you shape the euonymus by cutting both top and sides it will be a nice small shrub anywhere from two feet by two feet to six by six. There is an art to pruning whether you are just doing it out of necessity or to be creative, but either way now is the time. For inspiration on pruning ideas just take a look on Youtube, Pinterest or Instagram.