[header] How to prune organic plants [title] Prune summer and fall flowering trees as well as shrubs in the winter. [step] Shrubs like hydrangeas or barberries, and trees like cherries, spruce, and poplar, are best when pruned in the winter. This allows you to better see the branches since they won't have leaves. 
[substeps] Other shrubs include mallows, camellias, glossy abelias, and european hornbeams. Trees like crab apples, junipers, plums, honey locusts, and bald cypresses should also be pruned during the winter.