Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your table is filled with goodies from your garden!

We’re now in that time of year when we need to finish up those fall garden chores before winter sets in. No sitting in front of the television this weekend!

I’ve been out cutting down dead annuals and perennials whose leaves turn ugly. Other perennials are left for winter interest and seeds for the birds. The vegetable garden is already cleared of any debris that would harbor pests over the winter.

Most trees and shrubs don’t need to be pruned at all, but for those that do need pruning, now is a good time while they’re bare. It’s easier to shape them to your liking.

Raspberries should be pruned now. Cut out the canes that bore fruit this summer. New canes that didn’t bear fruit can be left for next year’s crop.

Grapes can wait until mid to late February. Cut the vines back so that there are two or three nodes on each vine.

Blueberry pruning can wait until spring before they leaf out. Before pruning, I look for a You Tube video put out by the University of Maine on how to prune blueberries for best production.

If you’re unsure when to prune any particular plant, you can do an internet search on that plant or you can email me with a question.

This is a good time to do a last fertilization of cool season lawn grasses. On the other hand, it’s a bad time to fertilize trees and shrubs as it might cause a growth spurt just before freezing temperatures. The best fertilizer for grass is one with a higher first number than the other two numbers on the package.

Compost can be worked in to the garden soil in the fall before the ground freezes. Your garden soil will be ready to receive new plants in May (after Mother’s Day).

We’ve had some good soaking rains recently, so there is no need to water trees and shrubs before the ground freezes.

One last item: Be sure to visit the Idaho Botanical Garden’s Winter Aglow. It opens Thanksgiving day and is open each night through this weekend. Visit their website for the complete schedule.

If you have particular questions about gardening you’d like to see addressed in this column, send them to highprairielandscapedesign@yahoo.com.