Prune after bloom

There’s a general rule to pruning most flowering plants – cut them back straight after flowering. This contains growth, keeps them in shape, and encourages fresh growth on which the next season’s flowers form. This applies to many winter- and spring-flowering plants. Shrubs such as camellias and azaleas (right) appreciate a light trim with shears or secateurs after the last flower falls. Poinsettias are normally crying out for a hard chop in spring to remove leggy stems. Cut them back to 30cm from ground level if you wish, then regularly tip ends of new growth to encourage bushiness and multiple flowering sites. Cut back flowering prunus to a main framework of branches in spring to promote whippy growth that will create a super show next spring, when they’re covered in blooms. Most winter- and spring-flowering natives, such as wattle, bottlebrush, grevillea, eremophila and mint bush, can be cut back by one-third once the show is over. Roses that only flower in spring, such as banksia roses and many old-fashioned shrub roses, should be pruned straight after flowering, but a light trim is generally all they need.