GARDEN notes

Know your soil and balcony plants

- CHRIS MORLEY

COLOURFUL STEMS

Dogwood (Cornus) is famous for its hot-hued stems that warm up the winter garden. To encourage colourful growth, hard-prune these shrubs every other year. Only tackle plants that are at least three years old, and do so from late February to mid April. Use sharp secateurs or loppers to reduce stems to 7-10cm from the ground, then mulch around the base.