A mystique surrounds pruning part3

Three pruning methods for roses

Pruning roses will not reward you with more flowers nextyear. However, it will control shape and maintain health. Wild (species) roses and hybrid shrub roses need no pruning — just the removal of dead wood.

• Bush types Large-flowered (hybrid tea) and cluster-flowered (floribunda) roses are pruned annually in early spring. Remove all weak growth and reduce remaining strong stems to 15-20cm/6-8in above ground level. Cut to outward-facing buds. Make sure centre of each bush is free from growth: shape bush like a vase.
• ClimbersAllow a framework of permanent stems which are trained to their supports. From these stems side shoots grow, which produce the flowers. To prune, cut back old side shoots to within one or two buds of their base in early spring. Tips of main stems can also be cut back, if becoming too tall.
• Ramblers These roses produce new stems from ground level, which flower the following year. Prune immediately after flowering in early autumn. Cut out completely the old flowered stems and train the new ones in their place.

Nine popular shrubs you need not prune

These plants only need to have dead wood cut out as necessary. With deciduous shrubs this is most easily donewhen they are in leaf.

• Barberries(Berberis) Deciduous and evergreen shrubs noted for flowers and/or berries.
• Camellia Handsome evergreens with winter or spring flowers. Only for lime-free soil.
• Cotoneaster Deciduous and evergreen shrubs noted for autumn berries.
• Elaeagnus Evergreen kinds with gold-splashed leaves are highly recommended for winter effect.
• Escallonia Evergreens with pink, red or white summer flowers. Ideal for coastal gardens.
• Firethorn (Pyracantha) Evergreen with heavy crops of autumn berries.
• Magnolia Only dead branches or those that get in the way should be cut out in summer.
• Viburnum Evergreen and deciduous shrubs grown for their flowers and/or berries.
• Witch hazel (Hamamelis) Among the most attractive winter- flowering shrubs. Best in a slightly acid to neutral soil.

Six fruit tree forms

The first five types described below are ideal for small gar., dens or where space is limited. Pruning techniques are quite complex and should be studied in a specialist fruit book.

• Cordon A single straight stem is furnished with side-shoots or fruit spur kept short by summer pruning and sometimes by winter pruning. Cordons are planted in a line and the stems are sloped at 45°, as shown in the diagram below. The trees are spaced about 75cm/2¹/2in apart and are supported with a system of 1.8m/6ft high posts and horizontal wires, plus a supporting cane for each. Suitable for apples, pears, white currants, gooseberries.
• Dwarf bush Suitable for apples, pears, plums, peaches and morello cherries. These trees are grown on dwarfing rootstocks to keep them small. The trunk is usually only about 60cm/2ft high, and branches radiate from it. The centre of the tree is kept open (free from branches) so that it resembles an inverted open umbrella in shape.
• Dwarf pyramid Suitable for apples, pears, plums and cherries. A kind of free-growing vertical cordon, but easier to prune. Dwarfing rootstocks are used. The branches from the central stem are pruned to a pyramid shape.
• Espalier An alternative method for apples and pears. From a central stem, horizontal fruiting “arms” (tiers) grow at about 38-45cm/15-18in intervals. The tree is trained in one plane — for example, against a wall or fence. Fruits are borne on spurs on the fruiting arms, which are pruned in summer. Space the espaliers 3-4.5m/10-12ft apart in a line, and support them with a 1.8m/6ft high system of posts and wires.
• Fan Suitable for plums, cherries and peaches. A perfectly flat tree, often trained against a wall or fence. From the top of a very short trunk branches radiate in a fan shape; these produce lateral shoots which bear the fruits.
• Standard Suitable for apples, pears, plums and other top fruits. The tall stem supports a well-spaced head of branches. Not for small gardens. A half-standard has a shorter main stem than a standard, although not as short as a bush.

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