A mystique surrounds pruning part 2

Thirteen subjects to prune in late winter or spring

These are popular deciduous shrubs, climbers and roses, all of which flower even better if regularly pruned.

• Butterfly bush(Buddleia davidii) Group 2. Allow a framework of woody branches to required height.

• Californian lilac(Ceanothus) Group 2 (deciduous ceanothus only). Allow a framework of woody branches to form, and cut back to keep it at the required height.

• Clematis Pruning technique for these climbers varies according to type.

• Dogwood (Comus alba and varieties, Comus stolonifera Flaviramea’) Shrubby dogwoods with coloured winter bark. The young bark has the best colour. Group 3.

• Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) Group 1. Prune in spring, after the plant has flowered.

• Forsythia Group 1. Prune in spring.

• Fuchsia Hardy fuchsias are in Group 2. Cut out all growth to ground level.

• Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) Group 1. Although these bloom in summer, prune in late winter — lightly cut back old flowered stems, especially if killed back by frost. Remove some of oldest wood.

• Jew’s mallow (Kerria japonica) Group 1. Prune in spring.

• Roses, bush types and climbers.

• Spiraea (Spiraea x Arguta and S. thunbergii) Group 1. Prune in spring/early summer.

• Willow(Salix) Willows grown as shrubs for coloured winter bark come into Group 3.

• Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) This popular climber is in Group 2. Prune in early spring.

Six subjects to prune in summer or autumn

These include various summer-flowering shrubs, climbers and formal hedges.

• Deutzia Group 1. Prune in early summer.

•  Hedges Formal hedges are pruned in summer. Small-leaved kinds such as privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) can be trimmed with shears or an electric trimmer; large-leaved kinds such as laurel should be trimmed with secateurs. Some hedges need more trimming than others to keep them looking neat: examples are privet and Chinese honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida), both fast growers (privet may need trimming 4 or 5 times). Other hedging plants need clipping only once a year, usually late summer.

•  Mock orange (Philadelphus varieties) Group 1. Prune in summer, after the plant has flowered.

• Rose, ramblers.

• Weigela Group 1. Prune in summer.

• Wisteria Train to make a framework of permanent stems. These produce side shoots which bear flowers in spring/early summer. In late summer cut back the side shoots to about 15cm/6in from their base as they become very long. Further shorten these flowering “spurs” in winter, leaving only 2 or 3 buds on each.

Six popular plants that need dead heading

These evergreen and deciduous shrubs fall into Group 4: they need to have dead blooms removed immediately after flowering.

• Broom (Cytisus) Using secateurs, cut off tops of shoots containing developing seed pods. On no account cut into older wood when pruning broom.
• Heather (Calluna, Erica) Lightly trim over plants with shears to remove dead heads. Do not cut into older wood.
• Lavender (Lavandula) Trim off dead flowers with shears, including the long stalks.
• Lilac (Syringa) Cut off dead blooms with secateurs. Take care not to damage new buds immediately below.
• Rhododendron You can easily twist off dead flower heads, but avoid damaging new buds immediately below.
• Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa varieties) Lightly trim over with shears after flowering. This helps to keep plants dense and bushy.

Three pruning methods for clematis

Large vigorous species (such as the very popular Clematis montana) can be grown through trees and left unpruned, but in most other situations most clematis will before long become a tangled mass of growth unless you prune them. Clematis are of several types and can be grouped according to pruning needs as follows.

• Group 1: all clematis species and hybrids that flower in summer and autumn entirely on new growths produced during current season. Cut back whole of previous year’s growth virtually to ground level in late winter. Cut immediately above strong buds. Examples: C. orientalis, C. tangutica, C. viticella, C. x xjackmanii, ‘Ernest Markham’, Hagley Hybrid’, `Perle d’Azur, Gravetye Beauty’, ‘Etoile Rose‘.

• Group 2: mainly vigorous spring-flowering species which bloom on short shoots from growth produced the previous summer. Examples: C. montana and varieties, C. alpina and C. macropetala. The first is very vigorous and is best given ample space and left unpruned, although it can be cut back to keep it within bounds. Others are pruned by cutting away all flowered wood to within a few centimetres/inches of main framework immediately after flowering (spring or early summer).

• Group 3: all the hybrids that provide large flowers from late spring to mid-summer on previous year’s wood. Examples: lasurstem Nelly Moser’, ‘The President’, `Henryi’, Vyvyan Pennell’, `William Kennett’, ‘Duchess of Edinburgh’. Clematis in this group may be left unpruned or only lightly pruned until they become straggly or out of control, when they can be cut back to within about 90cm/3ft of ground level in late winter. Alternatively you can treat them as Group 1 and prune them back hard to base in late winter; then they will flower only in late summer..

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