Beyond window washing

✓ Cut back roses

OSES SHOULD pruned in early spring, while still dormant, to encourage blooming, improve air circulation to prevent disease, and control size. Time this task to when the forsythia blooms, making 45-degree cuts with sharp, clean bypass pruners or loppers ¼ inch above outward-facing buds. Exceptions to this rule: old-fashioned and heirloom climbing roses that bloom on old wood; they should be trimmed right after they finish flowering. You can prune away dead or diseased stalks at any time.