I am no expert and don't know if there is an exact time to snip back or not. For me it depended on how many seedlings I had in a cell. With no rhyme or reason I often cut back to two in each cell before potting up. After potting up I waited to see which was more vigorous then snipped the other off. Lately I have been either planting in flats or only planting one seed per cell so haven't had to snip back. Happy spring planting!!

1) Boxwoods, like many broadleaved evergreen shrubs, respond to pruning by generating new growth. Typically these are pruned (rather than 'pinched' - stems are a bit hard for pinching) in a light, overall treatment to create a densely foliaged plant or sheared if creating a hedge effect. The best time to do this is when the plant is starting to produce new growth in spring. Any longer shoots growing vertically can always be removed if desired. 2) Coneflowers, Echinacea, are considered perennials and should come back each year from the mother plant. Some newer introductions are not as reliably perennial as others but seeds of these - usually hybrids - may not be true to type. The ability of the coneflowers to return each year will be determined in part by soil drainage - well-draining soils, especially in winter, are preferred. Soggy soil conditions seem to limit its ability to perennialize successfully. And FWIW, most gardeners consider weed or landscape fabric more of a pain than a help - a good mulch should provide the same amount of weed suppression and allow better interaction with the soil surface. 3)IME, Knock out roses require minimal pruning. They are considered something of a groundcover/shrub type rose and generally grow wider than tall. It certainly doesn't hurt to cut them back - roses generally respond to pruning by producing more flowering and cutting back will create a more compact and tidier habit. 4) Hinokis(Chamaecyparis obtusa cvts.) - in fact most conifers - require minimal pruning. Hinokis often generate some interior browing of the foliage and this can easily be removed just by brushing off. Otherwise, I'd skip any further pruning except for the removal of any dead or damaged branches.

Cal: Norway spruce are generally a medium-fast growing tree. But, of course, your climate and soil make a big difference. I have grown NS both in Northern Virginia, a dry and hot Z6, and in the mountains of Western Maryland, a wet, snowy Z5. In both places I have seen some very fast growth on individual trees certain years. Yes, up to 4' or a tad more, but your average will be much less. In Western MD, in my forest groves on a good "class II" forest soil, the average is 28 inches. At this rate a 4 foot tree will be about 115 feet tall in another 50 years, with a very steady growth rate for the whole period. In Northern VA, the growth rate will be substantially less, averaging about 20 inches in a forest stand. But if your trees are growing in the open, they will, on average, grow in height more slowly, but faster in diameter. In given years their growth may be affected by possible white pine weevils, which kill the top portion of the previous year's leader. And, birds landing on the new leaders, before they have hardened, will break them, which also slows height growth for that year. --Spruce

The seed does need to be dry, typically in an air conditioned house the humidity is low so place the seed in a dish and stir it every time you go by for a few days. If you have a ceiling fan put them under it or any small fan blowing over them will help in drying. After 3-4 days put them in an air tight container and put them in the freezer. They can be permanently stored in the freezer which will keep them viable for decades but as a minimum they need to stay in the freezer not refrigerator for at least a week to kill any bugs and eggs. I have 2 large freezers just for seed. I freeze all my seed to kill any bugs before I send them off to the seed companies. For small quantities of seed I like jars, when I am ready to plant I pull out the jars several hours before I plant or night before to allow them to equalize with ambient temperature. If you do not allow them to warm up as soon as the container is opened the seed will freeze the moisture in the air and frost over this is not good so do not open a conainer straight out of the freezer until it has thawed usually less than a couple of hours. Then I open the jar and remove the seed to plant reclose and put back in the freezer. Make sure you put the name of the variety inside the jar or container as a back up to any external labeling. This is from experience. I have had labels fall off and hand writen wear or smudger after years in the freezer from constanly moving around so another label inside saved the variety of seed.Rodger