Step by Step Pruning for
New Gardeners – Part I

Gardening has a certain amount of rules, but with pruning there are even more rules and it’s this complexity that gets new gardeners running for cover. Most gardening books give you all the rules at once, and, if you are anything like me, you end up with overload and gardening indigestion!

Therefore I plan to divide up the subject of pruning into easy steps, covering the most basic pruning information you will need – and in this way, make it more digestible for you! And the first question is:

What Tools do we Need?

There are three basic pruning tools a beginner gardener needs:

-  secateurs – can vary in price, so buy the one you feel you can afford and that feels comfortable in your hands
-  loppers – secateurs on long arms, the longer the arms and the heavier the loppers, the more effective they are. Try them out before buying as if they are too heavy, you won’t use them!
-  saws – a curved pruning saw is invaluable in cutting small branches or stems too large for secateurs

Whatever you use, an important point to remember is to keep your tools clean and sharp: clean, so that you don’t pass diseases from one plant to another, and sharp, so that you don’t tear and damage the plant you are pruning. Additionally, the sharper you keep your tools, the easier and quicker it is to prune your plants.

Why do we Prune our Plants?

Apart from the human need to be neat and tidy, and to keep our plants a manageable size, there are good reasons for pruning:

-  to cut out dead or diseased wood from trees and shrubs
-  to cut back branches that have become crossed over to prevent damage
-  and to promote new and strong growth

And now for the big questions: what, when and how to prune?

What Plants need Pruning?

There really are a lot of plants that do not need pruning, but if you have trees, shrubs, roses or clematis, then these are the most likely candidates for pruning on an annual basis. This will be covered in more detail in Part II.

When is the Best Time to Prune?

This is where a lot of gardeners become confused, especially with flowering shrubs. It’s useful to remember the rhyme: “If it flowers before June, do not prune”.

The reason for this is that if you prune a spring-flowering shrub in winter or early spring, you cut off all the flowering stems, which have put on growth during the previous year, so you wait and prune immediately after flowering.

If the plant flowers later in the year – late summer or early autumn – then prune in late winter or early spring as new growth starts, as the plant has the spring and summer to put on the growth needed for flowering.

How do we Prune our Plants?

The one important rule to learn here is that when you cut back a stem or branch, always cut back to just above – about 5mm (a quarter inch) - a leaf joint or bud. This is where the new stem will grow from. If you make the cut too high above the bud, the stem will suffer “die-back” – a self-explanatory term – and apart from looking unsightly, may affect and kill the shoot that you want to grow. Make the cut at a slight slope away from the bud to help prevent rainwater draining into the new growth. If there are a pair of buds, immediately opposite each other on the stem, then just cut straight across.

These are the very basic general principles of pruning, but in the next article I will move on to more specific guidelines for dealing with the more common plants and their pruning needs.

Fran Barnwell

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 Fran Barnwell
Rowan House, Gunnislake, Cornwall, PL18 9NT

 © Fran Barnwell
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