When's the best time to prune hardy fuchsia?
Plan to trim the plants in spring to control size, shape and to thin out these colourful blooms
Q I have a hardy fuchsia that I have not pruned in recent years. Can you tell me how much of the plant should be cut back? What is the preferred time for pruning these plants? A Hardy fuchsias can be managed as either deciduous shrubs or as perennials. A really cold winter can kill off the top growth of some varieties, but new growth will appear from the plant crowns. That's what most perennials do.
In years when all or most of the top growth survives, I prune to shape, thin, or control the size of my hardy fuchsias as soon as I see tiny green shoots appearing along the stems in the spring.
Hardy fuchsias that show no signs of life along the stems by this time will likely need to be cut down to begin life anew from ground level.
To prune plants with green sprouts along the stems, first decide on how much smaller you want the plant to be. I usually cut out weak, broken, spindly and awkwardly placed stems and thin out remaining stems enough to relieve congestion. Then I shorten the remaining stems, making the cuts immediately above an outward-facing green shoot.
Q My globe artichoke plants have made it through the winter in my coastal garden and I anticipate a crop of fat buds in early summer. Should the plants be pruned after the buds have been harvested?
A The only pruning commonly recommended is to cut the plants down close to the ground in late autumn, before protecting them for the winter with a loose mulching material. I've come across only one account of pruning the plants during the growing season.
The account was of an experiment at a research station. Cut down after the first harvest, the plants re-grew to produce another crop of edible buds. I've never done this, but for those with more than a few plants it could be an interesting experiment to try on one or two.