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Trees and Shrubs help

patsyrusspatsyruss Posts: 3
in Plants
We have just moved into a new house in North Yorkshire with a  beautiful mature garden full of shrubs and small trees.  The house has been empty since last October and so no tidying up of the shrubs/trees has been done.  Is it too late to do this now or should we leave it until next March time?  As we are new to gardening, we have had a lovely time searching and naming all the shrubs but all seem to say pruning in March/April time.  We would be really grateful for any help.

Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Hello Patsyruss and welcome to the forum. It all rather depends on what the shrubs and trees are. Some can be pruned in Spring, others need to be left until after flowering. If you know what your plants are then more detailed advice can be given. If you are not sure then post some pictures on here and we can help you identify them and advise more specifically.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    What have you got?   The usual rule is to prune anything that flowers in spring immediately after flowering unless you want berries and seeds.  Generally, early flowerers do it on wood produced the previous year so you need to give them time to grow new shoots that will ripen before the frosts start.

    Anything that flowers later does it in on new wood produced from spring onwards so can be pruned earlier.   

    Either way, you need to take out any dead, diseased or damaged wood and, if necessary shape it to a pleasing form.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • UpNorthUpNorth Posts: 376
    Without knowing the names...bit hard but a couple of key points i'd suggest...

    1) don't do any pruning if frosts are imminent ( as in a week or so).  you're probably fine right now in this regards.

    2) You won't kill a shrub by pruning at wrong time of year, but you may lose out on this year's flowers.   some will flower on last year's growth.  Some will flower on new growth.

    i think the usual advice here is to leave your 'new to you' garden for a year, watch and learn for a year then you will know better what to do as you know what you like, what you don't like from each season.  
  • patsyrusspatsyruss Posts: 3

    I have taken pictures of all the shrubs but there are far too many to post on line.  The plants that have overgrown most and I would probably like to do something with are:

    Clematis (most likely Montana) climbing by the back door.  There seems to be an awful lot of dead wood underneath the new leaves and growth.

    Honeysuckle covering arches on a pathway which seems to have got out of hand.

    Virginia Creeper which is sprouting all over the place.

    I am able to leave the rest until next year but really need to do something with these.

    Thanks for the fast answers and information.  I am going to keep a diary and if you don't mind I may post some photos of shrubs/trees I can't identify.


     

  • aureliecelerieraureliecelerier Posts: 157
    Hi, whatever you decide to do, remember to check you trees/shrubs for any nesting birds before pruning any branches  :)
  • patsyrusspatsyruss Posts: 3
    Thank you aureliecelerier, I never though of that and there are plenty birds about as we are in the country. So rest assured I will do.
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