5 hours Ago By Ketsuda Phoutinane
Gardens are bursting back into life with the onset of spring and, for gardeners, there is much to be done. Early spring is prime time for gardening jobs that ensure plants are in their best shape this growing season. In addition to sowing, weeding and planting, it's time to get the secateurs out.
Timing is key as some plants flourish from pruning in April and May whilst others are best well enough alone. To help gardeners promote healthy growth, experts have named a few plants that are important to prune now — including some hydrangeas , clematis, and fruit trees. A hardy shrub with white cone-shaped flowers, panicle hydrangea should be pruned now.
The showy blooms flower from late summer to autumn "They should be pruned in April because they bloom on new wood, so they produce flowers on the current season's growth," explained Hannah Howland, perennials manager at Plants Unlimited, to Martha Stewart . "Pruning in early spring, before new growth begins, encourages robust branching and abundant blooms in summer." Pruning panicle hydrangea is a bit different from other hydrangeas.
You should aim to cut back last year's growth to the lowest pair of healthy buds. According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): "Although the only essential work is to remove dead wood in spring, these species flower more prolifically when pruned back annually to a framework of branches. "Each spring, cut back last year’s stems to a pair of healthy buds to maintain a permanent framework.
To produce larger flowerheads on strong, upright branches, hard prune to the lowest pair of healthy buds, creating a low framework of branches. This usually results in a pruned framework of no more than 25cm (10in) high but, if more height is required, cut to about 60cm (2ft) tall." It's important to prune clematis — otherwise they turn into a "mass of tangled stems", according to RHS .
They advise pruning overcrowded, dead or diseased clematis stems after its finished flowering. As Monty Don advises in his May gardening guide , this typically happens for early-flowering clematis — including C. montana, armandii, alpina and macropetala — by the end of the month.
"Obviously the timing of this will vary considerably in different parts of the country but the principal remains constant and for many of us this occurs at the end of May," he pointed out. As for how to prune the plant, the RHS says: "Untangling the stems can be fiddly, but once you can see where you are cutting, you need not worry about pruning this plant - it will take even hard cutting back very well." Spring is a good time to prune fruit trees in the UK in order to reduce their size.
Prune stone fruit trees (like plum, cherry and damson) or those you don't want to encourage vigorous growth, recommends the Woodland Trust . "It doesn’t trigger the tree into producing lots of new growth so it's good for trees you want to keep small and for dwarf trees. It’s also a chance to remove diseased or dead wood.
" Additionally, pruning in spring and summer means the trees have started to develop fruit, so it's simple to avoid cutting branches that are growing fruit. Hannah Howland, perennials manager at Plants Unlimited, told Martha Stewart : "Getting rid of these branches will help the sun better penetrate the tree canopy, resulting in higher-quality fruits. As a bonus, these trees offer not just delicious harvests but also beautiful blooms.
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