Fatal Pruning: Not Cleaning Your Shears

Nothing's been happening to my garden lately.  Some of my plants are due for a good prune, like my Cinnamon Basil and my Lemon Mint. But in the past couple of months, some of my pruning sessions end up killing the mother plant.  Cases in point: my poinsettia dried up a few days after I pruned it; my Malvarosa deteriorated (and is still ongoing) after I pruned it; and my erstwhile prolific Japanese and Chocolate mints died after pruning. Now, I think I know why.  I didn't have the habit of cleaning my shears after every use.  I think I ended up infecting every plant that I pruned because I didn't disinfect my shears.  Tsk.  Well that's a lesson learned for me.  So guys, after every use make sure you wash, soap and wipe your shears with alcohol just to be on the safe side.  Instead of making your plants bushier, you might end up killing them like I did.

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