Master Gardener to talk proper pruning

During his “Pruning Year Round” presentation, WSU Clallam County Master Gardener Keith Dekker will explain how proper pruning can save work and enhance the health and beauty of home landscapes at noon Thursday, Feb. 8, in the commissioner’s meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

Dekker will provide an overview of pruning throughout the year, season by season, for trees, canes and mounding shrubs. He will cover basic pruning cuts, how the plant reacts to them, and methods for pruning to enhance the plant’s natural shape and beauty, without sacrificing blooms. He will also explain what pruning tools work best, and how to use and maintain them.

Dekker has more than 40 years of horticulture experience in garden centers, nurseries, greenhouses and in commercial landscape maintenance.

After 25 years of residential landscaping in the Seattle area, he moved to Clallam County, where he became a Master Gardener in 2017. He has just been named Intern of the Year. Dekker teaches pruning classes to garden clubs and for PlantAmnesty’s pruning certification program.

The presentation is part of the Clallam County Master Gardener Green Thumb Garden Tips educational series, held from noon-1 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

Presentations are open to the public.

For more information, call 360-565-2679.