Understanding pruning

There have been lots of books written on the subject of pruning and none of them are short.  Perhaps this is why it is considered to be an expert's job and not something which any gardener can face with confidence.  There are seemingly 10s if not 100s of rules to be followed before you may dare to pick up your secateurs and venture into the garden.

Actually, pruning is not a dark art at all and can be tackled by everyone once a few basic rules are understood.  So here's the Theory...

Looking
It's important to take a good look at any plant you intend to prune and to appreciate its natural shape before you start cutting.  I have seen many instances of a wide range of shrubs being pruned into the same shapes, regardless of their natural habits.  What you end up with is a collection of different sized 'pudding' plants!

Timing - knowing when to prune
Some examples:
Roses should be pruned in the dormant season, ie. winter
Pip fruit (apples and pears) should also be pruned in winter
Deciduous shrubs - it depends when they flower (see below)
Evergreen shrubs are generally best pruned in spring since pruning in the autumn going into winter or during winter will leave them exposed to frost damage
Wisteria should be pruned twice a year, once in winter (February) and once in summer (July).

Pruning formula

• Take a good look at the shape of the plant before you start, and when you do start, work from the bottom to the top
• 4Ds - remove the Dead, Diseased, Damaged and Decrepit
• Remove stems which are Crossing

Botany

A plant wants to grow upwards, generally speaking.  If its growing tip or apical bud is removed, the buds waiting in the leaf axils, known as the axillary buds will be stimulated into growth.

The basic principle of pruning is that by removing material, the gardener can simultaneously reduce growth and induce new growth where and when it is wanted, varying the direction, quantity and vigour of this growth as desired.

Tools
The 3 tools you will need for successful pruning are a pair of sharp secateurs (Felco or Okatsune are good), some loppers (I use a Darlac handy ratchet lopper because it's light and cuts anything up to 35mm diameter) and a pruning saw for larger branches.

Keep your secateurs sharp using a Felco sharpening stone (about £20 on ebay but worth the investment) and clean the blades of your tools regularly using methylated spirit.

Cutting correctly
Taking roses as an example - to promote growth in the right direction you need to cut to an outward facing bud, that is a bud which is on the outside of a stem rather than on the inside of a stem.  The resulting new growth will then grow outwards and not inwards, making the plant open rather than closed and congested in the middle.

correct slope - not too sloping and not too flat   correct height - not too close and not too far away from the bud   away from the outward facing bud so that water drains away

Feeding
It's important to feed a plant after pruning.  Use a balanced fertiliser, with an equal ratio of N (Nitrogen, for leaf growth), P (Phosphorus for root growth) and K (Potassium for flower production).  Look at the fertiliser packet, where you will see a figure given in the form N:P:K - the numbers corresponding to N, P and K need to be roughly equal.

So now you know the Theory, what about the Practise.....

Roses
There are many different types of rose, but the basic theory behind their pruning is the same and as described above.  So, to recap:-

The time to prune roses is during the winter, when they are dormant.  February is a good time.  Look at the shape of the plant before you start.  Pruning promotes growth so this is your opportunity to make a more balanced and beautiful plant, whilst appreciating the rose's natural shape.

Working from the bottom to the top of the plant, firstly remove the 4Ds - the Dead, Diseased, Damaged and Decrepit stems (these will be easily recognisable by the fact that they will be brownish in colour and not bright green healthy, new growth).  Next remove any Crossing stems.  The objective is to create an open centre to the rose bush to take advantage of as much light as possible, to create a pleasing shape and to promote air circulation (thus avoiding mildew).

If your rose is a Hybrid Tea rose (you can recognise this type of rose since it has the type of flower you would receive in a bouquet for Valentine's day on a long straight stem), it will grow 3-4 feet in a season so needs to be cut down by about 3/4 so that flowers do not appear too high up on the plant.

If your rose is a repeat-flowering English Rose (such as those bred by David Austin) then its shape is important and it should generally be cut down by about 1/3.

If your rose is a once flowering rambling rose it will send out long rod like growth after flowering.  These are the flowering stems for the following year and can be tied in, bending the shoots downwards as you do so to break apical dominance and to encourage more axillary buds to produce flowering shoots (see Botany section above).  Old flowering stems can be cut back hard.  Essentially, this can be done in late summer after flowering or left until February when other rose pruning is done.  The advantage of pruning ramblers immediately after flowering is that the new long stems can be tied in and not blown about by the wind.

See the Peter Beales Blog section on Pruning for some more useful information on other types of rose pruning http://www.classicroses.co.uk/blog/category/rose-care/pruning/

Pip Fruit
Pruning should be carried out during winter - again, February is a good time.  The object of pruning an apple or pear tree is to create a framework of between 3 and 5 main branches, evenly spaced around the tree.  The end result should be a wide, open-centred tree (through which a hat could be thrown is the old rule!) to allow for good air circulation.

The same principles of looking at the tree's shape, removing the 4Ds and crossing branches still applies, as does working from the bottom to the top.

Once the basic branch framework is created, last year's new, long growth (laterals) can be cut back to 2 or 3 buds.  As this action is performed year after year, the number of fruit buds in one location will increase, giving rise to spur systems, which are simply groups of fruit buds.  As the tree grows older, these spur systems themselves become congested and will need thinning. 

With fruit trees, it is not a good idea to overprune since new growth will be produced at the expense of new fruit buds.  A balance between new growth and new fruiting growth needs to be achieved by judicious pruning.

Shrubs
Early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia or Philadelphus flower in early spring on the growth made last year, so they need to be pruned immediately after flowering in order to make enough growth on which to flower the following spring.  If these shrubs are left unpruned and then pruned in spring before flowering, no flowers will be produced that year.

The saying "If it flowers before June, don't prune" actually means don't prune it until after it has flowered!

Later flowering shrubs such as Buddleja or Fuchsia flower from July onwards on the current year's new growth.  It is best to prune them in early spring - February is a good time - just as they are coming into growth.  This will give them a long season to put on new growth ready for flowering later in the year.  Pruning them in the middle of winter is not advisable since they may suffer from dieback caused by frost damage.

Wisteria
Pruning Wisteria is a 2 step process:-
In summer after it has flowered at the end of July or beginning of August, the whippy extension growth should be cut back to 4-6 buds.
In winter (February) the same growth should be further cut back to 2-3 buds to encourage the plant to put all its energy into creating flowering spurs.

I am grateful to Anne Tweddle of The Pruning Company http://www.thepruningcompany.co.uk/ for her informative talk on pruning which prompted this blog.  Anne will visit your garden to carry out your pruning or to coach you if you want to develop the confidence to have a go yourself.

For further detailed information on pruning, I can also thoroughly recommend the RHS manual "Pruning and Training" by Christopher Brickell and David Joyce.

Cornus to cut or not to cut

Cornus or dogwoods can have beautiful coloured stems during winter and can look stunning when planted with plants which will set off those stems to best advantage.  However, the stems you see in the photo above have not grown tall and vibrantly coloured without pruning at the right time of year.

Although it is tempting to cut back everything to within an inch of its life in the great garden tidy up in autumn/winter, Cornus are shrubs which need leaving until the spring.  Just before the leaves appear in early spring is the right time to cut their stems almost down to the ground.  The stems will then grow quickly and leaf up during the summer.  It is only in the autumn once their leaves fall that you will be able to see the glorious, young and brightly coloured stems which have been produce by the pruning you did back in the spring.

So...DO cut Cornus, but only at the right time of year to be rewarded with a show of beautiful stems during winter.

Not too late for tulips

It's not too late to order and plant tulips.  November is a good time since the risk of tulip blight is less when the weather gets colder.  A firm favourite of mine is ‘Recreado’ which is deep purple with purplish stems and is quite perennial compared to many tulips (many are not reliably perennial, diminishing in number from year to year – planting more deeply is supposed to help).  It’s also tall and late, flowering in April to May.  Try it planted around Euphorbia polychroma - the purple tulips and acid green of the Euphorbia are a zingy combination. Last year I also used ‘Couleur Cardinal’ which has sumptuous deep red petals like the best and plushest velvet – it looks stunning with the orange leaves of Heuchera ‘Marmalade.’

Other good tulips are ‘Ballerina’ since it is a beautiful orange, tall and elegantly lily-flowered with a sweet scent.  Although it looks delicate it puts up with a lot of buffeting by wind and rain.  Try ‘Prinses Irene’ in containers.  She is short and orange but with a purplish tinge to the lower part of the petals and exquisitely scented.  ‘Spring Green’ is always on my list – it has classic ivory petals with green flares and performs well in shade, unlike many tulips.  It is also one of the most perennial tulips you can buy.

Watch out for squirrels - although they reject daffodil bulbs they are partial to tulips.  If planting in containers, use some chicken wire to put across a group of pots and anchor it down.  In the garden you could try lengths of holly laid across the soil which may deter them.

Try the following bulb suppliers:-

www.riversidebulbs.co.uk 
www.sarahraven.com 
www.peternyssen.com 

Chitting potatoes - why bother

Mid February is a good time to start chitting seed potatoes.  Put simply, chitting is the process of growing shoots (chits) to give the potatoes a headstart and crop earlier than they might otherwise do.  Put the potatoes with the end where you can see a number of 'eyes' uppermost in an eggbox on a sunny windowsill or in a sunny porch.  The shoots that grow will be knobbly and purple/green and completely unlike the long, pale shoots which grow on potatoes left in the kitchen cupboard for too long.

Once the shoots are 2 to 2.5cm (3/4 to 1") long and the risk of frost has passed, the potatoes can be planted out.  Dig shallow ridges of soil 45-60cm (18 to 24") apart and plant the seed potatoes into the ridges 12cm (5") deep and 22cm (9") apart.

Bare root rose planting

Now is the time to plant bare root roses - from November through to the end of March is the rose's dormant season.  On a chilly but sunny day it's very good exercise!  I have just planted 22 bare root Wild Edric roses from David Austin Roses to make an attractive and scented hedge in front of a post and rail fence:-

Golden crab apples of Malus 'Golden Hornet' were still hanging on and looked great against a blue sky:-

Garden fit for a Wedding

When I met my client in September 2011 she wanted her garden 'sorting out' in preparation for her daughter's wedding.  She had been tipped off that a proposal may be imminent and, sure enough, the proposal was forthcoming and the date was set for 7th July 2012.  A central timber pergola would be where the bride and groom would walk through to the marquee.

The original pergola

Pergola in March 2012 ready for planting

Pergola on the wedding day

To cut quite a long story considerably shorter, the design was drawn up, the plants were put in place in March 2012 and then it was up to the weather to do its best to ensure that everything was in perfect bloom for early July!!
 
There followed a scorching two weeks after planting, a very rainy April, hot weather in May and the wettest June on record, not to mention the wind which was detremined to bash everything down and Izzie the dog who made a path through the plants on a regular basis.

However, despite a deluge on the morning before the wedding and the radio broadcasting flood warnings all around the country, Saturday 7th July 2012 was a sunny, dry day and this is how the garden looked.

Boxford Gardens Open 2012

As Sunday 3rd June 2012 dawned it was clear that the weather forecasters had got it right and that both the Queen on her Thames barge and the hard working open gardeners of Boxford would be disappointed.  The rain which started as a dreary drizzle turned into a constant downpour by the end of the afternoon.

However, were we downhearted?  Certainly not!  Although the Union Jack bunting hung a little limply at times, the open gardens looked fresh and beautifully green, rather than sun-baked and gasping.  Many of the gardens featured stunning irises which this year seem to have benefited from the alternating weather conditions of extreme rain followed by extreme sun.  Although many roses and peonies refused to open their tightly packed buds, the aquilegias were still standing tall and resolute against the elements and hardy geraniums such as Geranium phaeum were massive specimens.  Oriental poppies dared to unfurl their papery petals and colourful lupins stood cheerfully to attention.

Visitors came from as far afield as Clacton and, in true British jubilee spirit, they were determined not to let the rain spoil their enjoyment of the gardens.  The village hall fed a constant stream of bedraggled visitors with coffee, ploughman's lunches and cream teas whilst two outlying gardens provided visiors with welcome mugs of tea and slices of cake.

All in all, the day was a great success in spite of the weather and our 24 open gardens received some well earned compliments.  We had over 250 visitors and raised over £2,600 for Boxford St Mary's Church.

Many thanks to all who opened their gardens or who helped in any way and of course to our intrepid visitors who braved the rain to view Boxford's beautiful gardens.