Urgent Gardening Question of the Week: Bradford Pear Trees

On Tuesday’s, segment, Kathy, from North Carolina, called in to express her concern about her Bradford pear trees, which had leafed out in a bout of warm weather.  A subsequent cold snap blackened the new leaflets.  Luckily, we could assure her that her Bradfords probably have a “just-in case” set of buds behind the original leaflets, and, with a little warm weather and rain, the trees should recover and boast a whole new set of leaves.  Neither fertilizing or pruning can help this process, but if Kathy notices dead twigs even after the new leaves have fleshed out, she can then prune those areas back to new growth.

For more information on spring gardening, including how to prune trees and shrubs, visit www.MarthaStewart.com.