Pruning Guides

If you’re panicking at pruning or looking after Roses, don’t worry, even when I first started gardening, I avoided Roses for so long as I didn’t have the confidence to look after them. But after many years and being trained by some of the best in the business, I now love planting, designing with, and […]

Quick Answer Rhododendrons need very little pruning. The main tasks are deadheading spent flowers immediately after blooming, removing dead or diseased wood at any time of year, and light shaping after flowering in May or June. Hard renovation pruning to reduce an overgrown plant is best done in late winter between January and March, accepting […]

Quick Answer Roses fail to flower for eight main reasons: not enough sun, wrong pruning time or technique, too much nitrogen fertiliser, lack of deadheading, drought or waterlogging stress, pest and disease pressure, blind shoots, or the plant being too newly planted to flower freely. Most of these are simple to diagnose and straightforward to […]

Let’s talk softwood cuttings, the easiest way to propagate plants for free! Learn exactly when and how to take softwood cuttings from your favourite shrubs, perennials, and climbers. This step-by-step guide covers timing, technique, rooting methods, and aftercare to transform garden trimmings into thriving new plants. Perfect for budget-conscious UK gardeners wanting instant results. Taking […]

Quick Answer Prune Cornus (grown for winter colour) in late March to early April, once established for three or more years. Cut all stems back to around 10cm above ground level. This hard pruning, called coppicing, encourages vigorous new growth that produces the brightest stem colour the following winter. Young plants under three years old […]

The good news is that pruning photinia is not complicated once you understand two things: when to cut, and why you are cutting. Get the timing right, and photinia rewards you with multiple flushes of red growth through the season. However, prune at the wrong time, and you’ll either lose the colour entirely or create […]

Growing a wisteria in your garden can be one of the most impressive plants to welcome you home. In summer, wisteria has jaw-dropping, pendulous (raceme) lilac flowers that hang like purple pendants. These climbing giants can add a green, vertical layer of gardening to your home. Whether around a door to soften an entrance, grown […]

Quick Answer Prune most hydrangeas in late winter to early spring, ideally March in the UK, once the worst frosts have passed and you can see fresh buds emerging. Remove spent flower heads, cut back a quarter of the oldest stems to the ground, and trim remaining stems to an outward-facing bud. Climbing hydrangeas are […]

This guide covers everything you need to know about topping trees, also known as crown reduction, pollarding, heading back, lopping, or simply pruning to restrict height. We’ll look at which trees respond brilliantly, which ones will just laugh at your efforts and grow back twice as fast, and why conifers are in a category entirely […]

Quick Answer: Pruning Overgrown Star Jasmine Prune star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) immediately after flowering finishes in late summer (August-September). Cut back overgrown stems by up to two-thirds, removing old woody growth to encourage fresh flowering shoots. Star jasmine flowers on the previous year’s growth, so avoid spring pruning, which removes flower buds. Established plants tolerate […]