It sounds weird, but one of my favorite times of the year, gardening-wise, is January.

That's when I look forward to seeing all the new mailorder gardening catalogs in my mailbox. It's also when I make my "Plants I Want" wish list. And it's also the time when I repot indoor plants and mark the coming year's master calendar with seasonal gardening chores.

I know, it sounds anal. Perhaps I'm overcompensating for my ADD, which has turned me into somewhat of a calendar junkie:  If it's not on the calendar, it just doesn't get done.

Anyway, one of the chores I'm putting on there now is pruning. Without it, my front and side yards quickly become overgrown in summer and crowd out all the light, air and space. I at least need to go and trim all the dangling and dead branches left in the wake of all the winter wind storms we have in our area.

Pruned Flower Carpet roses with tete-a-tete daffodils in early spring

Late winter is a great time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs, although in cold climates like my Zone 6ish garden. Here in western New York, I usually prune on or around St. Patrick's Day. It's an easy way to remember it, anyway.

When you do prune deciduous trees and shrubs, make sure to remove diseased, damaged or close-crossing branches, but take special care not to spoil the plant's natural shape.

For magnolias, forsythias and other spring-flowering woody plants, delay pruning until just after flowering. Summer-blooming shrubs such as hydrangea and hibiscus are best pruned in winter or early spring, just before growth gets going. 

March and April are big months for pruning roses. My Flower Carpet roses are the easiest to prune: I just take a sharp pair of hedge sheers and reduce their volume by about two thirds. A more conservative approach is needed for traditional bush roses: Aim for an open vase shape, making cuts about a half-inch above an outward-facing bud. Old-fashioned roses that flower once in early summer shouldn't be pruned until just after flowering.

For more information on pruning Flower Carpet roses, check out the video "How to take care of Flower Carpet roses in spring" by Dave Epstein of Growing Wisdom.

Whenever you prune, always use clean, sharp pruning tools. Mangled, unclean cuts can lead to disease. And don't put diseased material in the compost bin. If Jack Frost strikes, avoid removing any frost-damaged growth, as this helps protect the plant from further frost damage.

I know it's hard to wait till spring, but try to enjoy some garden dreaming and planning. And don't forget to put pruning on your calendar!

A couple posts back, I talked about hot garden trends for 2012. One of them was the movement toward Mediterranean garden style.

The style, as explained by North Coast Gardening blogger Genevieve Schmidt, often features open and airy courtyards, light-colored, textured hardscaping such as mosaic walls, gravel beds or unglazed terra cotta pots. The style also is known for its low-growing, drought-tolerant plants, hedges, topiary trees and vines (i.e. olive, bay and lemon trees, succulents, lavender, palms, roses and grasses).

Well, there were a bunch of Mediterranean garden images I couldn't fit in that last post, so here they are:

Photo courtesy Genevieve Schmidt

Photo courtesy Genevieve Schmidt, designed by Lynda Pozel 

Euphorbia and purple salvia; designed by Lynda Pozel. Photo courtesy Genevieve Schmidt

Little bluestem grass (left), phormium (New Zealand flax, right). Photo courtesy Genevieve Schmidt

Festival Burgundy cordyline (spiky and dark red, in middle) with topiary tree, lemon tree and unglazed terra cotta pots featuring silver and white plants.

Snow Storm agapanthus (lily of the Nile) with unglazed terra cotta pot

Banks of Snow Storm agapanthus (lily of the Nile) and Flower Carpet roses (right).

How have you incorporated Mediterranean garden style into your landscape? Post a comment and tell me all about it. And you can email photos to lisa [dot] hutchursonbrandcool [dot] com.