Pruning during this time of the year involves cutting back and reshaping certain plants to encourage strong healthy growth and plenty of fruit and flowers.
Carrying out the gardening job now can also help prevent the spread of disease. However, not all plants can be pruned in winter. Some should be left until later in the year.
To help assist gardeners with what plants to prune now, gardening expert Julia Omelchenko at Plantum, the app that helps identify plants and improves plant care, has shared her top three picks.
She claimed: “Autumn pruning is important to promote healthier growth in plants, improve their flowering and appearance, and prevent fungal and bacterial diseases.”
Before pruning, it’s important to know a few rules to avoid harming your plants. Firstly, always use sharp and clean tools such as scissors, pruning shears, and saws to make clean cuts.
Secondly, sanitise your secateurs before and after pruning each plant to avoid spreading diseases.
Thirdly, always wear gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself. Lastly, after you’re done, disinfect the cuts with a fungicide or potassium permanganate, and cover thick branches with pruning sealer to prevent infections.
Plants that need pruning now
1. Fruit trees
Julia noted that it’s best to prune fruit trees, namely apples and pears, in December, when they enter their dormant phase, which lasts till early spring.
You’ll need to remove damaged and diseased shoots, and bare branches, and thin out the crown.
This will “increase yields, prevent diseases, and improve the appearance” of your plant. However, it’s vital not to remove more than a third of a branch at a time.
2. Roses
Make sure to prune your roses during this time, however, this “only applies to” climbing varieties.
Other varieties should be pruned after frosts in late winter or early spring to remove branches that have been damaged during this time.
To prune them now, cut back dead, damaged, and dense stems of your climbing roses. Remove any shoots growing inward from the crown to ensure good air circulation.
This will protect the roses from powdery mildew, which is caused by excessive moisture and poor airflow.
3. Evergreen plants
Evergreen plants, such as the juniper, thuja, and yew, should be pruned during December, although it can also be done in spring.
Their branches should also not be cut more than a third of their length. This will “prevent stress” and “promote healthy growth”.
Since conifers are prone to fungal diseases, sanitary pruning is an “excellent” preventative measure against infections.
