January, 2011 — January is pruning, planning and resolution-making time. It is still cold and it is going to stay cold, but don’t let that stop you — get ready to start your pruning.

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Unfortunately, when it comes to planning the garden, most people look out the window and plan to go out after one more cup of coffee. But this is a good time of year for creating planning binders, as many garden club members I know have done.

And what about resolutions? Every new year I make several resolutions that seldom last a month. This year, I will try for one that will last the whole year.

Here are the pruning, planning, and resolution-making tips.

1. Sharpen all your tools. If you don’t know how, you can bring them to the local hardware store — the smaller mom-and-pop stores — and for a fee they will do a good job.

2. Prune the worst first. Dead, diseased and crossing branches need to be removed. Roses and fruit trees need harder pruning. Get someone to show you the correct way to prune them; it really does make a difference.

3. Thin out shrubs to let the light in. Hedging is OK but hedges need thinning every year or the center loses all its foliage, leaving the plant at risk.

4. Lacing out the canopy of trees clears out excess foliage, allowing air to go through and light to filter down. This pruning is best left to the specialists. You can learn how to do it, but there are a lot of technical and safety requirements.

5. Start a binder with a page for each plant genus in your garden. On that page, put the plant tag or identifying information from an encyclopedia. Cut out or download a picture; search Google images for a collection of plant pictures. Start a record of key dates: planting, fertilizing, pruning and flowering. Also record information about the fruit, if pertinent, and any special care needs.

6. Take pictures of any new garden projects. Put them in your binder with a description of where the project is, what you did, what you planted, what amendments and or fertilizers you used — and, of course, dates, times and costs.

7. Make a resolution to spend some time in your garden every week. This is real gardening time, not just pooper-scooper or leaf blowing time.

8. Make a resolution to fertilize regularly. Lawns are fed four times a year, foundation plantings three times and bedding plants every two weeks.

9. Make a resolution to increase your gardening knowledge. Take a class, study on your own, or talk with someone who is a good gardener. Learn, learn, learn.

10. Subscribe to a horticulture-related magazine. I had a subscription to Organic Gardening magazine for three years and during that time did not even have a garden of my own. I learned a great deal from the articles.

Good gardening!

Jack McKinnon worked in Sunset’s gardens for 12 years and is now a garden coach. He can be reached at 650-879-3261, or by e-mail at jcmckinnon@earthlink.net.