Encourage abundant flowers
Some shrubs and climbers flower better on younger stems, so need pruning annually in winter to ensure they put on a good display. Bush roses Hybrid teas and floribundas – collectively know as bush roses – must be pruned hard in winter, otherwise they grow tall and ungainly and their flowering capacity dwindles. Cut them right down to knee height or below to stimulate healthy, vigorous growth that will flower well in the coming summer. Also remove any dead or diseased stems, as well as one or two really old and gnarled ones. This annual rejuvenation will ensure your bush roses bloom well year after year – often for decades. Climbing roses Space out and tie in the vigorous new stems of climbing roses, and remove one or two old, gnarled stems each year, then shorten the sideshoots to around finger length – all of which will keep the plant youthful and flowering well.
Wisteria
Shorten the sideshoots to four or five buds in winter to encourage flower production. Also cut out any unwanted long shoots to keep this vigorous plant within bounds.
Clematis
Winter is the time to hard prune clematis that start flowering in late summer (known as Group 3). These are varieties of Clematis texensis and C. viticella, and they produce their flowers on the current season’s wood. I like to cut them right to ground level in winter, which means that the spring-flowering viburnums that I grow them through can be cleared of faded clematis foliage, then will bloom happily before the clematis grow over them in summer. A good mulch of manure after pruning gives the clematis a boost and keeps their roots cool.