Pruning catch-up
Ruth tackles cutting back postponed due to the weather
WE were looking at some photos taken this time last year and the contrast was stark. By my reckoning, the bitterly cold, dry April followed by a cold, wet May held things back by at least a month.
While it is lovely to see the garden flourishing now, having caught up with itself, the late start to summer has pushed a few tasks back as well.
Some trees and shrubs are pruned in late spring, after flowering, to keep them in shape or to encourage blossoming next year, but the delayed season means that they may only be ready for a trim now, instead of a month or six weeks ago.
Now things are speeding up there’s no time like the present to sharpen and clean your pruning tools and get to work.
Shrubs that have finished flowering for the year, evergreens that are growing out of shape, clematis that’s sprawling from its allotted space and encroaching on windows and over other plants all need to be taken in hand now.
With most trees and shrubs, start pruning with the ‘three Ds’, removing growth that is dead, damaged or diseased. Then move onto weak and spindly branches that are unproductive or cluttering the centre of the plant. Once these are removed, you can create a neat, open shape, like a goblet, pruning growth back to an outwardfacing bud or a healthy pair of buds, then feed, water and mulch.
If you are faced with a very overgrown plant, try pruning it in three stages, concentrating on a third of it each year for the next three years. This gives pruned growth time to regenerate and means you will eventually create a shapely, productive plant. Cutting everything back, hard, in one go is another option, but is likely to result in no flowers or fruits for the next few years while the tree or shrub recovers and returns to growth.
■ In a few weeks’ time I will be tackling our plums, gages, cherries and other fruiters that are cut back in midsummer to avoid the fungal disease silver leaf. I will also prune our weigela and philadelphus that are still flowering well.