Pruning month

With longer days and warmer temperatures, growth is rampant this month, says David Hurrion, and it’s the perfect time to prune your less hardy shrubs and help direct the growth to young shoots and buds

Make the right cuts for shape and growth

Growth is well under way for a whole host of woody plants now that the days are longer than the nights and daytime temperatures regularly reach the low to mid teens in Celsius. The main aim of pruning is to channel growth into the younger, more vigorous buds and shoots, low down on the plant, to prevent shrubs and bushes getting too big while encouraging flowering. It pays to keep secateurs, loppers and a pruning saw close to hand this month, so that you can cut out the oldest wood and weak twiggy stems as soon as each of your springflowering shrubs start to fade. And it’s also time to cut back your tender, summer-flowering shrubs as soon as the fear of hard frosts has passed. Crucially, make sure that your pruning tools are kept clean and sharp. While this is important all year round, the blades will quickly become covered in sticky residues when sap is flowing readily in spring. Coming up next month: Summer pruning of fruit bushes and trees

May 2017 CUT BACK BY HALF You can cut back twiggy, dense shrubs by half after flowering to maintain compact growth and prevent the plant becoming leggy and bare at the base.