As the weather gets colder, gardeners will be looking to ‘winter-proof’ their outdoor space – and Monty Don has shared a handy pruning tip to help you do just that
November marks the beginning of the pruning season for many deciduous shrubs – those that shed their leaves in preparation for the cold months.
The goal during this period is to maintain a reasonable size for your plants and keep them neat. Any errant shoots or branches should be taken care of now, along with trimming any broken, damaged, or excessively crowded branches within the shrub.
For plants showing signs of legginess, where all new growth occurs at the top, leaving the base woody and flowerless, gardeners might consider cutting back one or two older branches to stimulate fresh growth.
This is particularly relevant for roses, as highlighted by gardening expert Monty Don, especially the climbers. Known for their robust growth and often fragrant flowers, many climbing roses also have the added bonus of repeat-flowering from early summer right through to autumn.
These beauties are brilliant for adding a vertical element to gardens, gracing walls, fences, pergolas and arches with their presence. The venerable horticulturist, 68, advised: “Climbing roses flower on shoots grown the same spring so they can be pruned hard now.”
While rose pruning can seem daunting, it’s actually quite straightforward once you get the hang of it – just follow Monty’s clever advice, reports the Express. Begin by cutting away any growth that’s damaged, crossing over other branches, or very old, which might mean going right back to ground level. He stresses, “The main stems should be fanned out at an equidistance as horizontally as possible, tying them to wires or a trellis.
“Then all the side shoots growing from these main stems – which produced this year’s flowers – can be reduced to a short stub of a couple of leaves.”
The envisioned result is a “tracery of largely horizontal growth” with pruned side shoots extending along their length. Without proper pruning, climbing roses can turn into an unruly mess of branches with scarce blooms.
Lastly, after pruning, it’s imperative for gardeners to tie the branches of climbing roses securely, to prevent any damage in the winter season. It’s crucial not to mix up climbing roses with their cousins, the rambling roses, which flourish on shoots grown the previous summer and therefore should only be pruned right after they flower, usually by the late summer season.
