Back more years than I can believe, when I had many acres of fruit trees, mid December was the time to assemble chainsaws, limb loppers and ladders and begin a pruning assault that often lasted into late April or early May.

To end my ramblings for the 2007 gardening season I will offer a brief calendar that you can hang with your pruning tools if you wish. Using the first paragraph as a lead I will start with fruit trees.

Apples, pears, grapes, sour cherries and blueberries should be dormant pruned. I started with the apples in December and tried to finish the grapes in March. If you have just a few of these I would attack in late February or early March.

Peaches, nectarines, sweet cherries and plums are much more bud tender and early pruning increases the risk of crop failure due to winter bud damage. Jokingly and seriously, the often offered rule of thumb is to work so that half of them are pruned before they bloom and half are done after bloom.

Christmas tree growers will tackle their short-needled evergreens in late winter hoping to be done before too much sap flows. That rule applies to all conifers except pines, which can be quickly identified by their long needles. Most, if not all, of the short needle conifers will tolerate severe pruning and will rejuvenate from even a vicious attack.

Pines are much more sensitive. Only the new growth as it matures in late May or June should be cut. Cutting pines into old wood, last years or older, seldom yields any rejuvenation.

Deciduous trees should be dormant pruned. If you are alive you can't help notice that the utility company's pruning crews are in full action. Many of you would deny that what they do is pruning, but in reality their message is; put appropriate sized trees and shrubs under the utility lines.

Flowering shrubs quickly fall into two categories. They either bloom in the spring or they bloom in the summer and fall.

If they bloom in the spring, they set buds the previous summer. Dormant pruning of spring bloomers will only remove flower buds. They should be pruned as the flowers fade, leaving time for regrowth and the formation of flowering buds for the next season.

Fall bloomers work off of new growth and are often a bit more winter tender than our spring bloomers. Prune them after you see the extent of winter twig damage. I think April into May are good dates to remember.

That's the calendar, so I'll close with a few more things I think about when I prune.

I try to do the job with as few cuts as possible. In other words, prune with your eyes and then get the loppers. Always remember, it is unwise to start with a plant that is too big for the spot and then fight to keep it under control.

Also, I have learned that if a plant is growing too fast, pruning in July or very early August can be a great taming tool. I regularly used that technique in the orchard. Less fertilizer and water will also slow the wild ones down.

Grudgingly, we can no longer deny that winter is near. My life is built around the flow of the seasons. For me it is time to rest, enjoy the season and plan for the spring. Hopefully, you can find time to do the same.