), each year there's a big decision to make: to cut or not to cut. Cutting it back sharply – not just light pruning but whacking it off about a foot high, a technique known as stooling -- controls its ...

Pruning needs: Prune in late winter and early spring to maintain well-branched, rounded shape. Water needs: Low to moderate water and fast drainage. Snapshot: This deciduous plant, which can be ...

A. Hardy to Zones 4 to 5, neither the species nor cultivated varieties of smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) actually needs to be cut back. They are winter-hardy shrubs and, unlike perennials, the ...

But the blooms of the American smoke tree (Cotinus obovatus) are unlike any other unique flowers out there – this tree is ...

Q:Will you please impart your wisdom on whether to selectively prune cotinus, the better to encourage the development of a multistemmed shrub out of a healthy, otherwise happy, burgundy-clad beauty ...

M.B.: The smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) can be pruned back hard around Valentine's Day. You can choose to cut it to within a few inches of the ground and grow it as a shrub, or choose one main shoot ...

Most experts recommend that deciduous trees such as birch be pruned when they are totally dormant. All leaves should be off and the weather should be cold. If you wait until spring, you risk the tree ...

In our yard right now, there are three happy plants. These relatives all have a distinctive color of a very dark green hue. And, as the branches lengthen, a purple color sets into the sky. They are ...