Gardening : Winter Garden Chores Bring Spring Flowers : Gardening: It’s time to prune roses and fruit trees. And with a little extra work, you can take advantage of bare-root sales at nurseries.

We are in the middle of winter and should be halfway through our chores. If you were going to plant bare-root roses or fruit trees, they should be in the ground by now--they are going on sale at many nurseries and the bare-root plants are beginning to leaf out. (If you want to take advantage of the sales, it’s not too late to plant. Simply snap off sprouts and plant because new growth will replace the old.)

You should be pruning roses and fruit trees right now. Pruning roses really isn’t difficult. Remove the top one-third of each cane and all growth thinner than a pencil, plus any canes that have grown too old. They are easy to spot because they are gray and woody and produce spindly growth.

Cut them at the base of the bush with a large lopper or saw. Make other cuts with sturdy, sharp shears, just above a five-part leaf, or leaf scar, that faces out from the center of the plant.

As you prune you may notice small holes in the center of last year’s cuts. These are the work of a stem borer, and these insect larvae can kill the canes. To keep them out, seal this year’s cut by dabbing on a drop of ordinary household glue.

On old plants, some rosarians encourage new buds and canes by scrubbing the base of the rose with a wire brush to remove some of the bark. Some also suggest sprinkling half a cup of Epsom salts around the base.

To help prevent the return of pests and disease, strip all leaves from the bush and clean up all that have fallen to the ground. When the bushes are bare, spray with a dormant oil that contains a disease-control ingredient. Dormant sprays do not poison pests, they smother them, at least those that spend the winter in cracks or attached to bare branches.

The idea in pruning fruit trees is likewise to encourage new growth by removing some of the old. How much varies from tree to tree. On a vigorous peach, you might remove quite a bit just so the weight of summer’s fruit doesn’t break any branches; on apples, hardly any.

After pruning, spray with a dormant oil. It is especially important to spray dormant peach trees with a fungicide to control peach leaf curl and brown rot. The dormant spray might contain the fungicide (check the label), or use a copper spray specially made for these diseases (ask your nurseryman). The sprays will also control brown rot on apricots.

Pruning cuts on fruit trees should be sealed, but wait a few weeks for the wound to dry. The University of California recommends a sealer made from 1.5 ounces copper Bordeaux mixture (available at nurseries) and one pint linseed oil. Mix and brush this concoction on the wound.

Weeding comes next on the list of winter chores. Most of the weeds growing now are easy to pull out by hand. It’s important to get rid of weeds soon, before they set seed.

Planting is more of an opportunity than a chore, and there’s plenty of it even in the middle of winter.

Bulbs that bloom in summer instead of spring--caladiums, gladiolus, gloriosa lilies, tigridia, the incredibly fragrant tuberose, Peruvian daffodil--are at nurseries now. All of these are quite easy to grow but need regular watering in summer.

They can be planted right away, though you might buy the bulbs of caladiums now and wait until May to plant (keep them cool in the garage in the meantime).

It’s especially important to plant gladiolus right away, to flower before the damaging insects called thrips have a chance to multiply. They stripe leaves and deform flowers; when they’re numerous enough, gladiolus may not flower at all.

Strawberries are at nurseries now and this is one of the best times to plant them. You might also find bare-root asparagus and rhubarb. Now may be the only time you can find blackberries, raspberries, or grapes, sold bare root, at nurseries.

Nurseries are still full of those flowers that bloom in spring. They’ll bloom later than those planted in the fall, and for a shorter time, but just as colorfully.

Primroses (for somewhat shady areas) and pansies (for sunny spots) are your best bets right now. Other ideas: anemone, annual dianthus, Bloomingdale ranunculus, delphinium, foxglove, Iceland poppy, nemesia and stock.

Planted now, spring flowers need little water, a piece of good fortune while water is precious.