Planting trees and shrubs this time of the year gives the plants time to send their roots out into the soil exploring for water and nutrients before they have to deal with the heat of the summer next year. For most plants, roots will continue to grow in the soil even after the plant has gone dormant and again as the soil warms in the spring before the new leaves begin to form.

I don’t need to plant any more trees or shrubs in my yard, but I do need to take one more look at some of these plants to remove any dead wood that is still in them.  From time to time, trees and shrubs will simply self-prune to remove any unproductive branches and keep the healthy part of the tree growing strong. It’s up to us as gardeners to cut these branches out before they simply drop out of the tree and possibly cause harm.