While many plants are in full growth at this time of the year, gardeners shouldn’t be in a hurry to put away their secateurs because there are still pruning jobs that need to be carried out this month.
It’s still not too late to check all plants over for signs of winter damage and take remedial action if necessary.
Also, May is the ideal month to prune, and it’s not too late to complete the pruning jobs for April if gardeners haven’t got around to them yet.
Pruning the plants in your garden encourages strong growers as well as increases flower and fruit production, all of which give aesthetic appeal to the garden.
Pruning at the right time, however, is critical, since it is possible to kill a healthy plant through pruning at the wrong time or over-pruning.
1. Lavender
For lavender plants to look the best they possibly can it is recommended that they are pruned before the end of May.
Christopher O’Donoghue, co-director of Gardens Revived claimed: “Lavender is well worth pruning at this time of year, so long as you don’t chop off too much.”
He explained that pruning lavender now “will encourage better flowering and stimulate growth over the summer”.
He instructed gardeners to aim to chop no more than a third off, only taking away from the very top of the stems where it appears more leggy.
“Not only will this help promote better flowering it will also help you achieve that popular rounded shape,” he told Woman&Home.
2. Climbing roses
According to an award-winning team of garden designers at Cool Gardens, now “great time” to start pruning climbers like climbing roses.
They claimed that climbing roses can grow rapidly during the warmer months, and pruning them now can help to “promote healthy growth and encourage more flowers”.
To prune them, start by removing any dead or damaged branches, as well as any branches that are crossing or rubbing against each other.
Next, cut back the remaining branches to a pair of healthy buds, leaving about one-third to one-half of the previous year’s growth.
3. Choisya
Despite many claiming that choisyas don’t need pruning, the gardening pros at Hillier think otherwise.
They recommend gardeners prune back the flowered stems by 30cm “immediately after flowering” in spring to “encourage a second flush later in the year”.
