If you're lucky enough to make it home during daylight hours and you take a look out at the garden you can be forgiven for not wanting to set foot outside. The evenings are dark and winter weekends can often be too short, donning a coat and gloves to get out there seems so very unappealing.

However perhaps when sitting indoors, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, you can take a graceful look across the garden and get the chance to think about, and contemplate the forthcoming summer and those long lazy evenings in the garden.

It might seem like it's a long way off but it'll be soon upon us and there are a great many things that can be done now in preparation for the growing season. The most unkempt areas of the garden can be tamed at this time of year but perhaps more importantly it's the appropriate time of year to focus on many aspects of tree pruning work.

Many trees, with the exception of a few species, thrive from a good winter prune. Broadleaved varieties are now dormant during the winter, their sap is no longer rising and it is this that makes it an optimum time to prune.

Pruning them now means that by the time spring comes and the sap starts to rise any potential infection can be pushed out from the trees wound prior to it healing. Also winter pruning can minimise excessive summer transpiration which is only a good thing in these ever increasingly dry summers.

And as if that weren't a good enough reason to prune trees within the garden there is, probably an equally as important consideration to take into account. The non nesting season is now upon us and between now and March the birds are not building their nests and not even the most foolhardy are attempting to breed. So spare a thought for the birds and the trees and plan you garden pruning accordingly.

GWB Horticulture is a trustworthy and reliable local garden services provider and can advise you of which trees to prune and when to do so. When and if asked they will come round and offer a competitive no obligation fixed price quote for the works.

At GWB Horticulture they always work with a sustainable ethos in mind and therefore promote winter tree works. So now is the ideal time for any tree felling and a lot of tree pruning works, whilst maintaining minimal impact on the environment. Plus what could be nicer than watching people swinging around in your trees whilst surveying them from the comfort of the house, a cup of hot chocolate in hand!