Your Garden Guy: Gardening thoughts at Christmas

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you! This year, buy yourself a really good trowel made of stainless steel and a wood handle. You have earned it!

Next week: what to do with your poinsettia plants.

Recycle those Christmas trees. Call your local government for a recycling center near you.

Spring flowering bulbs, such as hyacinths, are up to 75 percent off. Buy them and find a home for them.

Now is a great time to prune Japanese maples. Prune a little at a time. Keep the tree symmetrical. The best pruned trees look like they were never pruned. No shearing, please!

Irrigation systems need winterization, and now is the time to remove and drain water from garden hoses. Store in a protected area. Replace the rubber washers located in the end of the hose, too.

Plant Italian arum in areas where hosta and impatiens were growing. Italian arum is an attractive winter perennial. It grows only during winter and dies to the ground as summer approaches

To prevent birdbaths from cracking, empty water, remove the saucer, or simply turn it upside down and place it back on the pedestal.

Keep the bird feeders filled. Your feathered friends have become accustomed to the food source in your yard.

"Paper White" narcissus bulbs that were forced for holiday blooms will not do well planted outside. Put them in the compost pile.

Todd Goulding provides residential landscape design consultations. Contact him at www.fernvalley.com or 478-345-0719.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Your Garden Guy: Gardening thoughts at Christmas ."