In the dead of winter, so many trees look skeletal – bare branches with dead leaves on the ground surrounding them. Even here in the desert southwest, you can see leafless limbs. In other parts of the country, this would mean it’s time to stay indoors, sipping mulled wine and browsing through seed catalogs. We do that here, too, but we don’t necessarily have to stay inside. In fact, since our coldest average temperatures are about 50 degrees during the day, the winter’s an ideal time to clean up our landscapes. I have family and friends back east who’d be dancing in shorts and t-shirts if it were 50 degrees anytime between December and February.