What to cut back in summer

Don’t neglect these essential pruning jobs,

- Ruth

CONVENTIONAL wisdom says we prune trees and shrubs in autumn and winter when they are dormant, but there are several varieties that ought to have a haircut in summer.

These largely fall into two categories; those that are susceptible to silver leaf disease; and shrubs that flower in early summer and create each year’s blooms on strong young growth produced the previous year and early the next.

A third group are evergreen shrubs that are less hardy can be damaged by cold if trimmed in winter.

This week I have been busy pruning our recently flowered philadelphus and weigela, giving a straggly ornamental flowering cherry a much needed tidy up, and pruning our plum and greengage trees.

I also checked over variegated euonymus and found a small case of reversion, where the green-and-white leaves had been replaced by solid green foliage. This needs to be pruned out otherwise it will eventually take over the whole plant.