With 12 Public Gardens and countless other designed landscapes spread across the state, there is always a long list of tasks—even during winter—for the Trustees Horticulture Team. Despite the large-scale nature of the team’s work, their winter gardening checklist will look familiar to any seasoned gardener.

“We’re right alongside you, pruning, planning, and starting seeds this time of year,” said Joann Vieira, Trustees Director of Horticulture. “It’s a critical point for all gardeners, big and small, to ensure we’re ready to go when spring finally breaks.”

To help those who are going through their first winter season—or as a refresher for experienced gardeners—we’ve compiled a quick list of what Vieira’s team is currently tackling. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired (or reminded) to get working on some of these items yourself so you’re prepared for spring.

Pruning ✓

The Trustees Horticultural Team is entering the final stages of tidying up our own gardens and landscapes across the Commonwealth to ensure strong, vibrant growth when the weather finally breaks. Plants that have collapsed or are harboring pests and disease have been cleaned up, while many perennials are standing strong to provide resources for wildlife.

When it comes to trees and shrubs, now is the time to pull out your gardening shears and get snipping! Late winter is a perfect time to prune trees and shrubs that have lost their leaves to promote healthy growth in the upcoming spring. Dormant season pruning allows you to trim away dead and damaged portions without harming new growth. Plus, those damaged sections are easier to identify when they’re not concealed by foliage.

Before you start, make sure your pruners, loppers, and handsaws are sharp and clean, and don’t forget to wear safety glasses to protect your eyes. Start with branches that are broken or diseased, and those that are rubbing and crossing. Be sure to prune branches away from houses and structures to provide good airflow and reduce contact. Move on to removing branches that detract from attractive shape but limit your pruning so that you remove no more than 25% of the overall mass.

Remember, spring-blooming trees and shrubs set their flower buds last summer so branches you remove now will reduce the overall bloom come spring. On the bright side, you can bring those branches in and place them in water to force-bloom indoors. Forsythia and spring-blooming witch-hazels are particularly easy to force, the witch-hazels will provide flowers within a day or two, the forsythia in a couple of weeks.

Over the past few months, partnering arborists have also been brought onto Trustees properties to help us lay a plan to care for larger specimens that require special expertise and equipment. Thanks to this diligent winter work, our special places can flourish in their full beauty this summer and for years to come.

Planning ✓

Put pencil—you’ll want to easily erase and revise—to paper and start plotting out your space! Being stuck indoors means plenty of time to daydream and envision the ideal garden containing everything you want to grow. Draw a layout, and draw it again, to ensure there’s proper sunlight, spacing, and companion planting so every plant can thrive. Now when spring finally arrives, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

Vieira and her team are drawing up their own designs for garden spaces across The Trustees. Meticulous notes and tons of photographs from the previous year inspire the coming season’s displays. Plans begin to take shape as early as the previous August, firming up in October, November, and December when plant orders are placed for the rarer items that will be in high demand.

As winter progresses, planting designs are formalized and plants, seeds, potting soil, pots, and nutrients are all ordered to turn the team’s vision into a reality. Hundreds of display labels are also produced so visitors can accurately identify plants while wandering through our gardens. However, one of the largest planning priorities for Vieira’s team during the winter is hiring seasonal staff, and securing the indispensable volunteers needed to bring these gardens to life each year.

Pest Patrols ✓

Deer, rabbits, and voles; Oh my! These pests can enjoy the winter garden more than humans, but unlike us, their enjoyment often results in tremendous damage to the plants they favor. If you haven’t already, now is the time to wrap susceptible plants in protective fencing, spray them with odorous and foul-tasting repellents, adorn them with bars of soap or vials of garlic oil, and sprinkle the ground with castor oil repellents.

The Trustees Horticulture Team is right alongside you, working hard to protect our existing plants and shifting to plants that are less likely to be eaten. The methods described previously—and many other tools to keep critters at bay—are checked weekly throughout the winter and reinforced as needed.

This same diligent patrolling takes place in Trustees greenhouses, though the pest problems here are generally smaller like aphids, mealybugs, powdery mildew, and sooty mold. For these minuscule problems, the team employs their pinching fingers, a dab of rubbing alcohol, a sharp stream of water, or the release of beneficial insects coupled with sanitation, good airflow, and optimal light to help keep the houseplants and seedlings healthy and on their way to success.

Planting (Seeds) ✓

Speaking of seedlings, now is the time to start planting seeds (just not outside)! Until the last frost comes through—typically around May in Massachusetts—seeds need to be sown indoors under warm sunlight or a grow light.

Review your seed packets to see how long you’ll need to grow a seedling that’s ready to transplant outdoors. Many seeds require a week or two to germinate and several weeks of growth indoors before being transplanted to the garden. Having transplants ready to plant in the ground after the final frost will set you up for a thriving spring garden.

Trustees staff are already growing seedlings, particularly for those properties participating in our Spring Bulb Shows like Naumkeag in Stockbridge. Thousands of cool season annuals like stocks, snapdragons, and violas are bulking up in greenhouses right now, getting ready to bloom into a vivid kaleidoscope of colors once transplanted. Sign up for an alert when tickets go on sale to see them for yourself this spring.