STUFF TO DO OUTDOORS: Prune trees, shrubs. Cut out dead branches, those that rub on another branch, those that grow inwards, and water sprouts. After that, you can prune for form, but don't remove more than one-third of growth. Now through mid-May is generally good. For specific plant requirements, check reference books.

Hunt out overwintering insects: Shiny bands of tent caterpillar eggs on deciduous trees; twiggy-looking bagworm cocoons on junipers; waxy white egg masses of wooly adelgid on hemlocks. Spray with horticultural oil when temperatures are above 40 degrees for several hours. Resist the urge to pull or cut tips of evergreens trapped in frozen snowpiles. A lot of rabbit & deer damage in our garden, but we're going to let nature take its course before any drastic surgeries.

Cut down ornamental grasses, butterfly bushes, Russian sage, dwarf spirea, potentilla, beautyberry, white snowball hydrangea, other summer-bloomers that you want smaller, neater, or later in bloom. Rake up rabbit droppings. Spread clothes dryer lint, shedded dog hair, other suitable material for nesting birds to gather along fencing, branches.

Tread lightly: Every year, Detroit News garden writer Janet Macunovich cautions us to be protective of the soil at thawing time. Wet surface soil gets crushed by feet into frozen layers below. This sets like concrete. Not good. If you must work in mushy surface soil areas, drop down some plywood walkways. Layers of leaves, or branches, or leaf-filled garbage bags also work.

HISTORIC TREES: If you like the idea of celebrating life's major markers with tree plantings, consider the Famous & Historic Trees Project of American Forests, a conservation group established in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, for what that's worth. More information at (800) 320-TREE, or e-mail nurseryman Jeffrey Meyer at: jmeyer @historictrees.org. Next month, his book, "America's Famous and Historic Trees" will be published by Houghton Mifflin ($30). In it, he describes how to collect seeds from your favorite trees, how to treat them, and how to plant them.

Photograph garden areas that you found depressingly bleak over the winter. That way, you'll be able to position evergreens, shrubs, understory trees to provide the always desirable winter interest for next year. Or you can simply

head South & forget the whole deal until May.

Cheers!

Linda Meadors

Hort Chair