And much easier than my method of soaking cotton in rubbing alcohol and wiping the pruners.

Do you wipe it after each cut or when you move on to the next plant?

Great tip!

Thanks for posting that!

Great idea ! Like Rita I wet a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol when I feel the need to disinfect a tool. This would be so much easier !

Claudia: Thanks for sharing this great tip!

I have a basket on my back porch with a few tools, a container of disinfectant wipes, a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol; the wipes are so convenient for this purpose!

O my gosh...just saw this!! I was surprised!!!

I Thanks for all the comments. I found this to be such a great thing to do when I got into hostas and the problem with the Hosta Virus X.

Anna, I do it in between each plan since most of my plants only require a snip or two. But it if you have a large plant requiring a lot of pruning I would do it every few cuts.

Great tip, Claudia! I am watching for a disease on my roses called 'rose rosette disease'. I just found out about it this year. If I get it, the rose bush must be destroyed. It was mentioned cleaning in between pruning each bush can help with trying to stop the spread of the disease. Next spring, when I prune, I am going to clean the pruners between each cut or at the very least, between each shrub.

Do you clean the clorex off the pruner before making your cut ? I did this last year on my burgs and where I cut the stalk it died back to the ground and my plants this year came up from the roots. I was wondering if maybe the clorex was too much?

Jeri: Your questions got me to googling. I'd always heard that Clorox Wipes didn't contain bleach and I use them all over the house sometimes on a daily basis. This information of the ingredients makes me a bit nervous: http://www.ehow.com/about_5468...

Jeri, I do not clean the clorex off the pruners and I have never had a problem. But it may effect some plants differently. I know some people who just use Isopropyl alcohol in a jar or dish and dip the pruners in it. I have done that too but made sure they were dry before I cut again.

That maybe where I messed up Claudia. I never waited for it to dry. I just wiped and cut!!! No harm the other way b/c they are still over 9' tall and have bloomed since April even coming up from the roots.