I have the opportunity to have brush hauled away in a few days. I'd love to prune shrubs right now so the cuttings can be taken away now. It will be difficult to get rid of them in late winter/ early Spring.

What happens to the plants if I prune them now? Do they get messed up physiologically? Is it mainly convention that says prune in later winter or in spring/summer after blooming or is there a plant--health reason for recommending those times of year.

Thanks.

Can anyone tell me what this fungus is on my eastern redbud.

So I wanted to do an ultracross of several varieties of corn and cucumbers this year, and since I'm just starting out I wasn't expecting hybrids.  However, I got this unusual vine growing beside the garden (I just assumed one of the other vines was just trying to beat the competition) but I checked to see if it had fruited and it didn't look like any of the cucumber varieties I planted this year that came up: Richmond Green Apple, White Wonder, Poona Kheena, or Lemon.  Maybe it's another variety that didn't survive but the only one which looks close at all is the West India Burr, but I don't think that's it.