), each year there's a big decision to make: to cut or not to cut. Cutting it back sharply – not just light pruning but whacking it off about a foot high, a technique known as stooling -- controls its ...

A. Hardy to Zones 4 to 5, neither the species nor cultivated varieties of smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) actually needs to be cut back. They are winter-hardy shrubs and, unlike perennials, the ...

M.B.: The smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) can be pruned back hard around Valentine's Day. You can choose to cut it to within a few inches of the ground and grow it as a shrub, or choose one main shoot ...

Most experts recommend that deciduous trees such as birch be pruned when they are totally dormant. All leaves should be off and the weather should be cold. If you wait until spring, you risk the tree ...