Pruning Any Questions?

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Quick Check list

Pruning is a vital part of plant and tree care. Three basic tools suffice for most pruning jobs: secateurs, loppers, and a pruning saw.  Keep them sharp for clean cuts and make sure you disinfect them after pruning diseased material.

1. Roses

Prune in winter or early spring when plants are still dormant. Prune to maintain symmetrical bushes and encourage strong new growth. Cut back all previous years growth as much as one-third its length. Remove branches that cross through the center of the plant. Also prune weak and dead stems as required to encourage strong new growth.

2. Holly

Prune in winter or early spring mostly to shape plants. Cut back wayward branches and prune out weak unproductive dead stems as needed. Holly can be pruned hard and will recover, but slowly...

3. Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia)

Butterfly bushes flower in the summer on new spring growth. They can be pruned in late winter or early spring. Pruning encourages new flowers. Also prune out old dead and unproductive branches. The later they are pruned, generally the later they flower, so if you've a few it can be useful to leave some until early spring to extend the flowering season.

4. Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas fall into two groups. Some you prune in early spring and others after the flowers fade.

Early Spring Pruning
Hydrangeas flower on new growth. These plants are Climbing Hydrangea, Annabelle, Grandiflora, and PeeGees.

After Flower Pruning - most common
Hydrangeas flower on last years stems. These include H. macrophylla (Bigleaf) Hydrangeas, Oak leaf Hydrangeas, Lace caps, Summer Beauty, and Nikko Blue. Pruning should be done when the flowers have faded. Cut back the flowering stems to the strongest pair of new shoots. As plants mature, begin to thin out the oldest woody stems. Remove crowded crossing, broken, or dead branches.

5. Clematis

Clematis can be put in three categories: Spring-flowering, summer-flowering , and twice-flowering.

1. Early flowering
   Flowers are produced on stems that grew during the previous year. Prune when the flowers are over. Cut back the flowers that are now dead. Prune out any old dead stems while you're at it.
2. Summer flowering
   Plants flower on the current years growth produced in the spring. Cut back stems before new growth begins. Late autumn or early spring is a good time to prune. Cut back about 12 inches of old growth. Each year the plant will grow larger and stronger.
3. Twice flowering
   Plants first flower in spring on stems produced the previous year. There will also be a second flush of flowers on late summer or autumn. In late autumn or very early spring, prune lightly to thin the stems. After the spring flowering, prune more heavily for more healthy stems to develop for the later flowering. After the second showing, prune old flowers away.

All Clematis benefit from being brought down to size, for an established plant at each annual pruning after flowering, cut 1/3rd of the longest stems down to 1-2ft above the ground. This keeps the flowers at a sensible level rather than them getting ever higher and higher up the plant. Remove any dead or diseased stems down to ground level.

6. Fruit Trees

The most common fruit trees are apple, plum, pear and cherry.

1. Apple Trees
   Apple trees should be pruned in late winter or early spring before new growth starts. Always remove all suckers as they appear. Also remove dead and other unproductive branches as needed.
2. Plum Trees
   Plum trees are pruned in the summer to avoid "silver leaf". Plums can be left to their own devices much of the time, prune to keep them in check and so that the plums don't grow farther away from the tree's center. This will put great strain on the branches, causing them to break. July is reckoned to be ideal, but you'll lose pretty much all that seasons crop, immediately after fruiting is fine. Just avoid the dormant season
3. Pear Trees
   Prune back in early spring, remove dead and unproductive branches as needed.
4. Cherry Trees
   Prune in winter. Prune out branches that cross in center and dead unproductive branches as needed.

7. Azaleas and Rhododendrons

They can be pruned in winter or early spring, but this will cause the loss of that seasons flowers, so  just after flowering is preferred. No additional pruning should be necessary.

8. Junipers and other conifers

Conifers such as Junipers need very minimal pruning and should be left alone as far as possible which means more care taken to match the plant to the place at planting time. They should be pruned to correct their shape, to accent their form, or to limit their size, during the growing season in mid-summer.

9. Flowering Trees

Flowering trees should be pruned after they have finished flowering. Prune as little as possible. Dead branches, branches that cross in the center, and branches that are unproductive should be pruned out.

Three basic tools suffice for most pruning jobs: secateurs, loppers, and a pruning saw. Keep them sharp for clean cuts; disinfect after pruning diseased material.

Q. I have a two-year old grapevine in my greenhouse. I know that I should take off any grapes whilst still young this year, but how do I prune it? When I bought it, someone talked about cutting off leaves after a certain joint, but that person is no longer available for advice. Grateful for any information.

A. You need to tie-in the leading shoot so that your vine develops a good strong leader, allow it to grow unchecked. Any laterals that grow from this should be pinched back to five or six leaves and their side-shoots to one leaf.

Q. What is the best time of the year to prune trees? I have Malus and Prunus - I know that one of the Prunus is called Oku-miyako but not sure of the others. Many thanks.

A. There is no one time of the year to prune trees in general, it depends on the type of tree. Some respond better to dormant season pruning, others to pruning in the active growing seasons.

Q. I have just bought a house with a lovely old wisteria growing over the rear porch, it has been quite severely pruned in the past as the trunk is about 8" thick and it only extends about 12' across the roof however the porch itself badly needs painting, can I cut it right back to about 4'-5' of trunk without any damage in order to get to the woodwork?

A. Yes they can be cut back drastically, but it will be several years before it's back to its former glory. Depending on practicalities, you may be able to detach it and lean it away from the wall supported by wooden props, a ladder or similar, do what you need to do and then tie it all back again, so avoiding cutting it so much.