YOUR PRUNING MONTH

Frances Tophill explains what to cut back now, including grapevines and hardy shrubs

- Frances Tophill

Cut overgrown shrubs back

Although you would usually wait until just after flowering to prune early-summer shrubs such as philadelphus, now is a good time to cut back really overgrown specimens, using a pruning saw or loppers on the thick, mature stems. As long as the plant is mature it should bounce back, especially if given a good mulch afterwards.

December is a month of light and darkness. Traditionally, it is a time for festivals of light and celebrations that involve singing, dancing and fire to combat the dark, short days. These festivals coincide with the winter solstice toward the end of the month, the shortest day of the year. For me, it's a day that always brings hope. From now on we start to emerge from the dark and head towards spring. This is relevant to plants, many of which are governed by a day-length response, as well as temperature. Even these small increases in light begin to stir a new hormonal phase of growth and ready our plants for spring.

Right now, just leading up to that shift, is the most dormant phase of the year. That makes it a perfect time to prune plants like deciduous shrubs and trees, as well as grapevines, which need to be cut when fully dormant. It's also the time to start pruning roses. A good friend of mine, who is a specialist rose grower, once told me that Christmas Day is the best day to finish planting your bulbs and start pruning your roses, though this can be done right up until early spring.

Other plants to prune now

As a general rule, winter is a time for coppicing, pruning deciduous trees (apart from a few exceptions that bleed) and cutting back anything that had autumn interest, now faded.

HAZEL is a perfect shrub for coppicing once the nuts are over and the leaves have fallen, and before active growth starts.