January is the time for pruning and fertilizing trees

KANSAS CITY - I know it's January, but if you can spare just one or two hours you can double or even triple the growth rate of young trees in the spring.

Because it's so easy to see all the branches with no leaves,  now is the best time to prune your young trees. You want to work to establish a central leader,  which is the core branch growing straightest up the tree. Any larger branches growing close or rubbing up against the central leader should be pruned back.

If you want to it easy on yourself you can use a reciprocating saw with a good wood blade. On larger branches, make sure you make a cut underneath and then a cut on top to avoid splitting the branch. Any other small branches rubbing against each other can be snipped off with a pair of pruners.

This is the best time of the year to fertilize your trees. It's as simple as using winterizer fertilizer and applying one and one half times the rate. The grass won't use up all the fertilizer like in the summer,  so most of it will get down to the tree roots and help double or even triple the growth rate. Start about six feet from the trunk of the tree and make two passes outward and you will see your young trees growing like never before!

One caution: when pruning your fruit trees, shade trees or ornamental trees in January, make sure that the temperatures are above 20 degrees. See you next week.