Simple Summer Pruning

Garden Gnome has popped round to give us his top tips on pruning at this time of the year.

Don’t forget, you can prune back and dead, damaged or diseased wood at any time.  To avoid over pruning, a good rule to follow is to make no more than 15 cuts in one season.  You shouldn’t reduce more than 10% of the overall canopy.

Apples & Pears

• Only done on restricted forms: cordons, fans, espaliers
• Prune in July/August by following this guidance:
  • Shorten leader to 3cm of previous year’s growth
  • Prune laterals to 3 buds up from base
  • Prune sub-laterals to 1 bud up from base

Cherries & plums

• All disease less likely to enter when sap rising so prune June-July; always burn diseased wood & gather & burn diseased leaves
• Summer prune to deter infection from silver leaf June-July to reduce overcrowded branches & pull up suckers from base

Pruning flowering shrubs

• All shrubs that have finished flowering by June 21^st should be pruned now.
• All that flower later should be pruned winter or spring.