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Pruning in June
What is Pruning?
Pruning is like giving your plants a haircut. It helps them grow strong and healthy, and it can also encourage them to produce more flowers or fruit.
When to Prune
June is a good time to prune many types of plants, including spring-flowering shrubs and early-flowering perennials.
How to Prune
- Spring-flowering shrubs: Cut back the oldest stems at the base to encourage new growth.
- Early-flowering perennials: Cut back the spent flower stems to the base to encourage a second flush of flowers.
Chelsea Chop
The Chelsea chop is a pruning technique that can be used on early flowering perennials to stimulate a new flush of leaves and flowers. It’s best done right after flowering, before the plant wastes too much energy going to seed.
Step-by-Step Guide to the Chelsea Chop
- Lift up spent flower shoots and gather handfuls to hold up and cut with secateurs.
- Cut all the stems right back to the base.
- Pull any debris out of the border, along with any weeds you’ve uncovered.
- Water well and look forward to the rejuvenated canopy of new leaves.
Benefits of Pruning in June
- Encourages new growth
- Thickens growth and shapes plants
- Helps plants produce more flowers or fruit
- Keeps climbers from swamping supports
- Delays flowering or reduces flower stem heights on later flowering perennials
Tips for Pruning
- Wear gloves to protect your hands from sap.
- Use sharp secateurs or pruning shears.
- Cut back to a bud or node.
- Remove any dead, diseased, or damaged branches.
- Avoid pruning beech hedges, broom, hydrangeas, and wall-trained apples in June.
