Your Questions Answered

It's always a good time to plant! For the most part...
Most plants can go in the ground any time from spring to fall as long as you can water them consistently. The longer plants have to get established before the first frost of the winter, the better! Trees can often be planted any time the ground is not frozen. Many new plants will undergo some transplant shock, and may look a little ugly in their first season. For more info, check out our Planting Guide.

Pruning is very plant-specific. For pruning guidance on a specific plant, please call or email us. Otherwise, here are some general guidelines: 
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You can deadhead some perennials continually such as salvia, catmint, coreopsis, and gaillardia. Others, like echinacea and daylilies should only be deadheaded when their blooms are done because they likely won't bloom again.
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Prune hedges as much as you want, but don't prune woody plants on rainy days. Only prune woody plants on dry, sunny days.

Most trees prefer to be pruned when they are fully dormant (i.e., January or February).

It's best for you to be the judge of that! Dip your finger a few inches into the surrounding soil. Is it wet? Is it damp? Is it bone dry? Most plants don't mind if the top few inches of soil dry out a bit, but like consistent moisture by their roots.
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Fewer long soaks are much better than small, frequent waterings. Different soils dry out at different rates, so it is best to check your soil every day to see how fast it drys out.

For light-barked trees (aspen, Autumn Blaze maple, cottonwoods, etc.) wrap your trees in the fall. This prevents sun scald over the winter.

How much did it rain? Check your plant's soil for a better idea. If your plant is newly planted, odds are that you will need to water it even after a good rain.

This refers to plants that are greenhouse-grown. If greenhouse-grown plants go outside in the erratic spring temperatures too quickly, they can frost. "Hardening-off" means placing greenhouse-grown plants outside during the day and inside at night until spring temperatures become stable. This allows the plant to acclimate to spring temperatures more gradually. We always suggest asking our team if you need to harden off the plant you just purchased.

Grass seed can be planted any time! It needs to be watered consistently until it germinates, or it can be planted just before the first snow of the winter for spring germination. Please refer to our Grass Seed Planting Guide for more information! 

Fertilizers with low N-P-K content can be applied to all plants spring through autumn. This includes compost and other light fertilizers like Yum Yum and root stimulator.
Use-specific fertilizers that are high in nitrates are best applied when plants are coming out of dormancy (usually early spring).
Our team always recommends using root stimulating fertilizer on new plantings.

We often say the deer around here are just built different. Nonetheless, they tend to stay away from plants with thorns or fuzzy leaves, grasses, or aromatic perennials like salvia and mint.