When we have hot weather and when summer is just about here, most homeowners think they can take a sigh of relief as it relates to landscape work, except cutting the grass. Well, get ready, because this is a good time to give selected trees and shrubs in your environment a haircut.

Pruning evergreen plants this summer is the direction you want to go.

Here is a list of trees and shrubs you can prune:

• spruce and pine trees, as well as juniper
  
• arborvitae
  
• cedar ant yews

Actually, you can prune the last, yew shrubs, several times a year to keep them under control. Christmas tree growers are busy as bees this time of year shearing their trees, such as white pine and spruce.

Actually, by pruning or shearing in the case of Christmas tree growers, they are trying to make the tree more compact by forcing side shoots or lateral buds to develop to make the specimen fuller. That's what you should be doing to control your plant's shape and size.

When you do get out the pruners, throw away those anvil pruners. With one flat side, these pruners will cut the top of the stem but squash the bottom side against the flat surface. Use the pass-by pruners where the action resembles a pair of scissors.

One more thing to remember is to not prune too much off so you can read a newspaper on the other side.

Try not to use a pair of loppers to give your shrubs an unnatural look. Use of hand pruners are best so you can prune the plant in layers, like a barber does your hair. What you want to do is give your plants a haircut that doesn't look like you just come from the barber shop.