Pruning year planner
Follow our guide to ensure you always know when to make the right cuts
Pruning isn’t just a one-off job – to ensure your plants stay in great shape, you need to keep on top of things all year, says David Hurrion. To help you get the timing right, here’s our seasonal guide to what to prune when
To get the best from your plants in the coming growing season, pruning at the right time and in the right way is vital. Many gardeners are afraid to prune, but mastering the basics is surprisingly simple and very effective. Correct pruning can remedy all manner of ills, from overgrown or oddly shaped plants to poor flowering and fruiting, to pest infestations and diseases. It can also bring out the best in all kinds of plants, whether they’re spring or summer flowering, grown for their colourful stems or giant foliage, trained into decorative shapes and forms, or cultivated for fruit. Getting the timing right is essential. Pruning is a year-round process, with different types of plants needing to be pruned at different times, so you should keep your secateurs, loppers and pruning saw at the front of the shed, ready for use in every season. Turn the page to get your pruning year off to a flying start with our simple seasonal guide. Coming up: pruning to create dramatic specimen shrubs