Tips from the “Plant Lady” at local Morgreen Nursery & Landscape |

Dorothy Shaw is your local expert on gardening tips - she is the official “Plant Lady” of Morgreen Nursery & Landscape , an award winning 6.5 acre full-line nursery, retail store & landscaping services firm in Collierville, TN. Below are some personal gardening tips that she has to share with the mid-south.

The Plant Lady on Pruning:

If you have a fruit tree in your home garden, now is a good time to prune them. Pruning plants is essential for the good foliage and the overall health of your plants and it will make them grow stronger. However, unlike fruit trees do not prune azalea or forsythias right now.The same goes for springtime blooming plants, it is too early to prune them. Pruning them early in the spring would mean losing some blossoms - wait until the late spring.

What she says about fertilization, oils, and soils:

Fertilizing in the spring is important for the plant's nutrition, but also you have to fertilize them correctly. Fertilize spring blooming plants after they have bloomed - not before!Use Cotton Burr Compost - as it is loaded with nutrients and diverse populations of micro-organisms, for fruit trees and berry plants. Spring is a good time to add lyme to vegetable garden soil - by adding lime you can bring up its overall pH level. Also, Dormant oil can rid your defenseless trees and shrubs of inconspicuous killers - plants can be sprayed one time, when nights have become 40 degrees or above.

Also, certain vegetables are ready to be planted in your garden:

Go ahead and get your garden started - spring planting for vegetables include onions, potatoes, cabbage, kale, beets, carrots, broccoli, coliflower, brussel sprouts, and collard greens.