Winter is the best time to prune. Especially if some of your trees have gone a few years without being pruned and will require that a lot of wood be removed. When plants are dormant, they are better able to cope with removing a lot of branches when properly shaping and thinning out a tree or large growing shrub. For most of Santa Fe County, the pruning season begins in late December and extends through the end of February or mid-March. Trees and large shrubs should be dormant

Penstemon, commonly known as Beardtongues, are some of our very best native wildflowers for northern NM. They are well adapted to growing in our area and are highly attractive to a wide variety of pollinators. They also have evergreen foliage which gives them a nice winter look. Mulch with an 1” deep layer of crushed gravel to keep the soil cooler and moister and encourage the plants to re-seed themselves. Hummingbirds Many attract hummingbirds with their long tubular flow

Native Plant Society of NM, Santa Fe Chapter “The Beauty of Native Shrubs and Trees for Waterwise Landscapes” presented by David Salman Chief Horticulturist of High Country Gardens Owner of Waterwise Gardening LLC in Santa Fe photos by David Salman 2. Native Shrubs and Trees They are invaluable components of the waterwise landscape Native shrubs are long lived, low care elements of the landscape that provide structure and permanence to waterwise plantings Native shrubs pro

Sangre de Cristo Mountains reaching into the snow clouds Wow, what a difference between winter 2018 and this year. This year’s mountain snowpack is good and getting better with each passing week. So this coming spring will be the best planting season in nearly a decade because soil moisture levels in northern New Mexico are being dramatically replenished from years of drought. As ours soils absorb all this water, the plants in our landscapes and the wildlands around us will