The general rules of pruning

Stay safe and keep your plants in good, healthy shape

- Ruth Hayes

WHEN it comes to pruning, certain areas of caution are advised. Firstly, think about your personal safety, so make sure tools are sharp and clean so they are less likely to slip or bounce off the wood and cause injury.

If working at height, make sure you are standing on something stable, so either get someone to hold your ladder or invest in a platform or larger ladder such as one in the Henchman range – it is money well spent.

Sturdy but flexible gloves are a must, too, and in winter I use Town and Country’s Thermalmax gloves. These toasty champions won’t break the bank but they will keep your hands warm and their reinforced palms are great for pruning back thorny growth.

Be cautious with your pruning, too. Take your time and get it right, remembering to ‘look twice and prune once’ because if you take too much off you can’t put it back!

If you have a very overgrown shrub, but spread the pruning over three years. This gives the plant the chance of regrowing and lets you decide how much more (or less) needs to be done.

Aim to create an attractively airy open goblet shape that lets air and light in to optimise blossom and fruits.

Remove dead, damaged and diseased growth and any that is crossing or rubbing or cluttering up the centre of the tree.