Keep Your Garden Blooming and Magnolias Healthy

August is a busy month for pruning, especially if you have evergreen hedges or fruit trees. It’s also your last chance to shape wisteria and promote flowering next year.

Plants to Prune Now

• Remove spent flowers and shape plants as growth slows.
• Cut back variegated evergreens to remove green shoots.
• Prune bay trees to shorten stems.
• Deadhead summer bedding plants like zinnias.

Avoid Pruning

• Don’t trim back ivy, as it will produce valuable nectar for pollinators.
• Wait until winter to prune grapes heavily.
• Prune roses in winter or spring, except for ramblers.
• Hold off on pruning pelargoniums for a month if you want to propagate them.

Step-by-Step: Pruning Deciduous Magnolias

Magnolias don’t need much pruning, but it’s important to do it correctly to avoid unsightly growth or bleeding sap.

Step 1: Remove dead, dying, or diseased branches.

Step 2: Cut off suckers sprouting from the base of the tree.

Step 3: Gather up prunings and compost smaller shoots and leaves.

Other Trees to Prune Similarly

• Birch trees (prune in autumn)
• Acers (prune during the dormant season)

What to Prune Now

In December, when plants are dormant, it’s a good time to prune most types of plants. If you have a lot to do, start now. Otherwise, take your time. Waiting a few weeks protects plants from frost and lets you enjoy colorful stems.

• Hazel: Cut out old stems near the base (coppicing)
• Foxglove tree: Give it a hard cut to encourage huge leaves next year
• Parthenocissus: This climber can get out of control. Prune it now and use the vines in Christmas wreaths.
• Willow: Cut back young stems to encourage more growth next season

Avoid Pruning These

• Box: Wait until spring. It’s susceptible to frost and disease.
• Cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots: They’re more likely to get silver leaf if pruned in winter.
• Buddleia globosa: Prune after flowering.
• Lemon verbena: Wait until spring. Pruning now removes protective growth and increases the risk of frost damage.

Step-by-Step Grapevine Pruning

1. Assess the plant: Decide what to prune and which stems to leave long for training.
2. Shorten stems: Cut stems with fruiting spurs at their base, keeping two buds each.
3. Finish up: Aim for a tidy, controlled vine with no whippy growth.

Other Plants to Prune Like Grapevines

• Campsis: Keep it in check to encourage flowers.
• Wisteria: Prune in January or February, back to two or three buds.
• Ampelopsis: Prune to prevent it from getting too big.

Tips

• Use pruned stems to create hardwood cuttings.
• Commercial growers often use grafting instead of cuttings to avoid disease problems. But cuttings are fun to try if you want to make more plants at home.

Spring is a great time to prune your shrubs and other plants. Pruning helps to control their growth, remove dead or diseased branches, and encourage flowering.

What to Prune in April

Some of the most common plants to prune in April include:

• Forsythia
• Camellia
• Paulownia
• Hyssop
• Winter-flowering honeysuckle

How to Prune Forsythia

Forsythia is a popular spring-flowering shrub. To prune forsythia, follow these steps:

1. Hard prune: If your forsythia looks raggedy, cut all low whippy growth and saw trunks back to stools.
2. Regular pruning: The following year, cut back any stems that have just finished flowering. This will help to maintain a small, manageable shrub.
3. Thinning: Thin out congestion at the base and center of the shrub, removing weak and spindly growth. Also remove stems that are growing outwards in an unsightly way.

When to Avoid Pruning

There are a few plants that you should avoid pruning in April, including:

• Birch
• Maple
• Lilac
• Elm

Tips for Pruning

• Use sharp, clean tools to prevent the spread of disease.
• Cut back to a healthy bud or branch.
• Remove dead or diseased branches.
• Thin out congested areas to improve air circulation.
• Avoid pruning too severely, as this can damage the plant.

By following these tips, you can help your shrubs and other plants thrive.

Introduction

When the leaves fall and trees and shrubs go dormant, it’s a good time to consider pruning. However, not all plants should be pruned in winter. Read on to find out which trees and shrubs benefit from winter pruning and which ones don’t.

Pruning Deciduous Shrubs in Winter

Deciduous shrubs lose their leaves and go dormant in winter, but not all of them should be pruned during this time. The best time to prune depends on the plant’s growth habit, flowering time, and overall health.

• Healthy spring-flowering shrubs should be pruned back right after they bloom to encourage bud set for the following year. However, if they’re overgrown and need severe rejuvenation pruning, you can cut them back in winter.

• Overgrown shrubs will recover better from a hard prune while they’re dormant, making winter a good time for this type of pruning.

Cutting Back Plants in Winter

• Summer flowering shrubs should be pruned in late winter or early spring to give them time to set flowers for the following year.

• Deciduous shrubs that aren’t grown for flowers can also be trimmed back at this time.

• Evergreen shrubs, like juniper and yew, should never be trimmed back in fall because it makes them vulnerable to winter injury. Instead, prune them in late winter or early spring.

Pruning Trees in Winter

Most deciduous trees can be pruned in late winter or early spring. However, there are a few exceptions:

• Oaks should be pruned in February to avoid attracting sap-eating beetles that spread oak wilt disease.

• Spring-flowering trees, such as dogwood, magnolia, redbud, cherry, and pear, should not be pruned in winter because you’ll remove the buds that would otherwise bloom in spring. Instead, prune these trees immediately after they bloom.

• Evergreen trees, like conifers, generally require little pruning. However, you may need to remove the lowest branches to create access. Winter is a good time for this type of trimming.

Additional Tips for Winter Pruning

• Use sharp, clean pruning shears to make clean cuts.

• Remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches first.

• Prune branches back to a main stem or lateral branch.

• Don’t overprune. Remove only about one-third of the plant’s growth each year.

• Water your plants well after pruning to help them recover from the stress.

Conclusion

Pruning in winter can be a beneficial way to maintain the health and appearance of your trees and shrubs. However, it’s important to know which plants can be pruned in winter and which ones should be avoided. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your plants thrive and look their best.

Pruning in summer is an essential gardening task that helps control plant growth, promotes flowering, and keeps your garden looking its best. Here’s a guide to pruning different types of plants in the summer months.

Fruit Trees

Pruning fruit trees in summer encourages fruit production by removing vigorous new growth. For apples and pears, trim new shoots on lateral branches back to one leaf once the stem becomes woody. For plums, prune awkwardly placed stems back to the base to avoid silver leaf disease.

Fruit Bushes

Summer pruning helps control the size and encourage fruiting of fruit bushes. After harvesting blackcurrants, remove old stems and a quarter of stems at least two years old. For gooseberries, trim new growth back to two or three leaves from the base and remove congested branches to improve air circulation.

Herbs

Shrubby herbs can become leggy if not pruned regularly. Cut back lavender after flowering to maintain a dense shape. For sage and thyme, trim shoot tips to keep the plants bushy and full of new growth.

Roses

Summer is the ideal time to prune once-flowering roses, such as old-fashioned roses and gallicas. Cut back main stems by a third to reduce the risk of wind damage and trim sideshoots back by two thirds.

Shrubs

Shrubs that flower on old wood should be pruned after flowering in summer to allow new growth to mature for next year’s blooms. For deutzia, simply cut off each flowered stem at the base. For weigela, kerria, and philadelphus, cut back flowered stems by a third to encourage new growth and prevent legginess.

Perennials

Some perennials can be cut back in summer to encourage new growth and maintain a fresh appearance. For hardy geraniums, cut the entire plant back to just above ground level. Delphiniums and Alchemilla mollis can also be cut back to the ground to promote new foliage and flowers.

Climbers

Vigorous climbers can benefit from summer pruning to control growth and promote flowering. For early-flowering honeysuckles, cut back flowered shoots by one third. For summer jasmine, prune flowered shoots back to a strong shoot low on the plant. Wisteria should have its new growth trimmed back to five or six leaves from the base in July or August to encourage flower bud formation.

By following these summer pruning tips, you can keep your plants healthy, encourage flowering, and maintain a beautiful garden throughout the growing season.