PRUNING

QI have a ‘Brown Turkey’ fig in a 40-litre pot. It fruits heavily every year and is getting very big. Can I hard prune it into a manageable shape? @JennyErby

You certainly can, Jenny – and probably should. Figs grow well as cordons, fans or just cut back to size. The best time to do this is in April – just as new shoots start to appear. However, they produce fruit on the previous year’s growth, so new growth will not give you any edible fruit until late summer 2020.

QI’m

moving to a small garden with a bamboo, at least six metres high. I’d like to keep it but how do I prune it? @paulamckenna7454

Bamboo never ‘needs’ pruning, so should only be cut for your taste or convenience. The way to do this is to remove whole canes right at the base of the plant so that you achieve a pleasing, uncluttered balance – but do not try to reduce the height of individual canes. Only remove the oldest canes and try to take them from the centre of the clump, and never take more than a third in any year. You can do this at any time, but whenever you do it water well and feed monthly during the growing season with liquid seaweed.