Is it time to prune fruit trees? The KSL Greenhouse Show shares advice
Feb 14, 2026, 2:56 PM | Updated: 3:06 pm
Man pruning bush in garden
SALT LAKE CITY — The temperatures lately throughout Utah have been dry and unusually warm, affecting trees and other plants in the state. Now, KSL Greenhouse Show host Taun Beddes said, is the time to start pruning those apple and pear trees.
KSL NewsRadio edited the following transcript for brevity.
Prune in February
BEDDES: “It’s actually time to prune apples and pears, especially with the warmer weather. The reason you prune apples and pears now and not in another six weeks is that pruning when its in February minimizes the chances of spreading disease called fire blight to your different trees. If one has it and you prune through a wound, you might be able to spread that so pruning in February minimizes that. So, that’s one of the big reasons we prune pears and apples now.”
KSL GREENHOUSE SHOW HOST MARIA SHILAOS: “Now it’s time to take out the pruners.”
BEDDES: “I’m torn on what to do because the drought we’ve been having and the warmer weather has caused trees to not be as dormant and if it holds up, we’re going to have flowering trees sometime in March to early April at the latest. It might snow next week, but we’re still in 40 degree Fahrenheit weather, and that is the ideal temperature for tree development. And so, we’re not out of the woods.”
Listen👇 to the full podcast episode
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The KSL Greenhouse Show’s plant of the week: Butterfly bush
Utah trees, the winter damage that can impact them, and how to combat it
