Straight to the point: Prune roses in February, ornamental grasses in early March and spring-blooming shrubs as flowers fade. Don’t fertilize until fears of frost subside. Moist soil manages temperatures better than dry soil. Mulch matters.

Waiting out the last bit of winter, you may be champing at the bit to get back to the garden. But springtime requires paying attention to Mother Nature’s timing, as well as paying attention to your pruning and other practices, or else you will be paying your respects to your plants.

From February through early March, warm weather followed by a quick frost can wreak havoc on plants, especially if temperatures precipitously plunge overnight. Plants that are leafing out early are at risk of damage when that cold front rolls through. You’ll have as much luck stopping this from happening as you would have in predicting when it happens; however, you don’t have to encourage fresh growth either. Don’t fertilize until early to mid-March for most perennial plants, or basically when you are reasonably confident that new growth won’t be damaged by frost. What about watering? Don’t let plants dry out during winter and spring. They still need water. Furthermore, moist soil does a better job of maintaining modest temperatures than dry soil does. So, if a freeze is forecasted for the near future, moisten the soil while it’s still warm out. Don’t forget to mulch. Research at the Hammond Research Station demonstrates that even just a couple of inches of mulch can make a meaningful difference in soil temperature maintenance.

Eager to do some pruning? Set a date for Valentine’s Day to prune your roses. Many common everblooming roses will benefit from pruning in February (and a lighter, secondary pruning late summer), but some older varieties and once-blooming varieties are better served through severing after flowering finishes. Ornamental grass species like muhly grass can be cut back in early March. With the faded foliage having served its purpose (winter aesthetics and wildlife habitat), it is time for fresh foliage to grow in. Of course, remove dead, damaged, diseased or dying branches from plants any time of year. Late winter or early spring may offer you a better view of the branching architecture of deciduous trees, allowing enhanced visibility for pruning before leaves come in.

Spring flowering shrubs such as azaleas, gardenias and viburnums are best pruned after flowers fade. This provides a full summer and fall for new growth and flower bud formation for the following spring. What about hydrangeas? It depends. Bigleaf hydrangeas flower on old wood, so don’t prune in spring. Panicle hydrangeas, however, bloom on new wood, so go ahead and cut at will and you will still have flowers in the summer. Basically, springtime requires patient, precise pruning in response to blooming patterns. Wait until blooms fade to prune spring-flowering shrubs and trees. With a wide enough variety of species in your garden, you will likely always have something to trim up at some point throughout spring.

Last bit of advice? Don’t rush anything or jump to conclusions. After winter weather or a particularly notable spring cold spell, you may be concerned that certain plants won’t come back to life. This is an especially common concern if the plant prematurely leafed out before the frost. Last year, sweet viburnums were one of the most commonly observed species with winter/spring damage. I have heard rejuvenation success stories for sweet viburnums when employing an aggressive pruning pattern and a healthy dose of nitrogen in very late spring or early summer. When in doubt, you can do the scratch test to see if woody perennials are still alive, give them a hopeful fertilizer boost or just wait it out. Sometimes it just takes time. Remember, you can always remove a plant later, but you don’t need to rip it out unless necessary or unless you just want something new. In that case, use the rest of spring to put new plants in the ground before it gets too hot and stresses newly transplanted selections. Also, just because something is a cool-season favorite doesn’t mean a little warm weather will completely wipe it out. One of last year’s Louisiana Super Plants, dusty miller, will give a yellow flower display (which some appreciate) in late spring or early summer; however, many people remove the flowers to force the plant to direct energy to maintain the feature foliage. Regardless of how you manage it in late spring, dusty miller can last well into June without a problem.