29 October 2023 , 12:00
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All keen gardeners know that pruning is one of the most essential and rewarding tasks you can undertake in your garden. From tidying up your green space to ensuring that you will enjoy plentiful blooms next spring, there are a multitude of benefits to looking after your plants.
However, when it comes to pruning, timing is everything. Do it too close to the upcoming frosts and you can leave your plants vulnerable to frost damage, too early and you can end up having to do the job all over again. One expert has explained that there are five plants in particular you should ensure that you prune this October, if you're lucky enough to have them in your garden.
The expert, Lindsey Chastain from home and garden blog the Waddle and the Cluck told the Express that in their opinion the top five most important plants to prune this October are rose bushes, fruit trees, hydrangeas, perennial plants and evergreen shrubs, explaining that, "October is a good time to prune back many shrubs and trees as they enter dormancy. Proper pruning encourages plants to be healthy and productive. Be sure to sterilise pruners between plants and make cuts just above outward-facing buds."
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, if you have climbing hydrangeas, then these should be pruned back in the autumn, after summer flowering. However, different varieties have different needs, and if you have mophead hydrangeas you should leave some of the faded blooms on the plant "to provide some frost protection for the tender growth buds below," and further hard pruning should take place in spring.
When it comes to roses, what variety you have in your garden is also important - because climbing and rambling varieties need to be tidied up in the autumn, but bushes and other types should be heavily pruned once the main frosts are over in the late winter or early spring. However, Haycroft Plants advise that if your garden is vulnerable to heavy winds, doing some rose pruning in the autumn is a good idea to "to reduce the damage potentially caused by 'wind rock'. Removing approximately a third of the height will be enough to stop the rose being affected."
Make 2023 your most productive year yet by using the 'intention' method
Evergreen bushes tend to be pretty low maintenance, but if you want to tidy it up remove less than a third of the plant, explains Chastain, because pruning more than this could "cause damage".
The Woodland Trust advise to prune your fruit trees by aiming "to create an open goblet shape in the canopy. Only remove about a third of the branches, including those that grow towards the centre of the goblet, crossing, diseased and damaged branches. This will encourage new growth and allow the air and sunlight to penetrate the branches." They recommend doing this from November to March to stimulate the most fruit growth the next year, so if you don't have time to fit this one on your October to-do list, don't worry.
Perennials benefit from being cut back at this time of year because "cutting back and clearing away foliage in autumn can also help to avoid fungal problems. Diseases can overwinter in dead and rotting foliage, which can also harbour slugs and other pests," according to Gardener's World. and it's recommended that you cut to just above new growth by the RHS.
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