If you start cleaning up your flower beds early this year be careful about trimming certain plants to early. One of those are Loropetalums. This is the purple shrubs you have seen all over town. They have a wispy natural look to them and are very hardy. One benefit is they bloom several small pinkish purple flowers in the Spring. However if you trim them to early you will actually be removing most of these blooms and will not get the full effect. Typically by May they are done blooming and can be cut to shape and size you were hoping for. Hope this helps!

In our area it’s pretty normal to start cleaning up your flower beds in February or March. While there is nothing wrong with getting a head start there are a few important things to remember before you start trimming. Typically speaking in our area Azaleas don’t bloom until April and into May. If you were to trim your azaleas to early in February or March you would actually be removing a lot of the bloom buds that are going produce the flowers. Since the blooms are the main reason planting the azaleas it’s a loose loose! The proper time to trim these shrubs in immediately after they drop all of their flowers. Usually May or June. This is also a great time to feed them with a nice slow release granular fertilizer. Also don’t forget to regularly inspect your azaleas for bugs or other pest. Typically it’s to late and the damage is done before most people realize there is even an issue! Hope this helps!

Japanese Magnolias are an amazing plant to get anyone ready for Spring. This tree is in the magnolia family but differs for a few reasons. One it that it looses all of it’s leaves during the winter time unlike your more traditional magnolia trees. You may think of this as a negative until later winter or early spring when the tree starts to bloom! They produce the most beautiful pinkish, purple and white flowers and they usually cover the entire tree! Some people call the tree a Tulip tree or a Tulip Magnolia because the blooms look a lot like tulip flowers. Regardless of what you refer to them as, they are one of the most traditional, truly southern plats. And because of the timing of their bloom cycle right before spring they are the perfect kick start to the new year!