Garden -- back up

If you normally skip things that don't start with "Garden"
please back up and read yesterday's post.
It's about your timing for pruning.
It could save your life because it suggests pruning before the stinging insects come out.
There was a terrible story recently about a woman who pruned her azaleas at the wrong time.
She got a sting and it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
She went into allergic shock and died.
Allergies are not set in your DNA; you can acquire allergies.
People move into the DC region and suddenly start having plant allergies.
It's just because this region has such fine gardens and parks and arboretums.
Same with stinging insects; you don't know you're developing an allergy.
When you find it out, it's in the worst way.

Avoid the bugs.
Prune before the middle of March.

But not your azaleas; if you prune them now, you'll be pruning off the flower buds.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved