Forum home› Garden design
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

When to prune bushes and trees?

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Garden design
Hi,

Im thinking about cleaning-up the garden and getting it ready for winter. I have various bushes/shrubs/trees (hazel, bay tree, damson etc) that are looking straggly and overgrown.

I want to cut it all back and have a bonfire.

Am I ok doing this now, or should I wait until winter, or spring?

Thanks

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Don’t prune the damson now, you run the risk of Silverleaf disease entering the cuts. All prunus should be pruned around June when the sap is flowing strongly. 

    I wouldn’t prune the bay now either … summer is the time for them too. 

    You can prune the hazel now but you’ll lose the lovely catkins that would appear in Jan/Feb etc. I would enjoy the catkins and then coppice the hazel (either partially or completely) just before the leaf buds open. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Whatever you decide,  don't burn it all,  have you got a chipper,  it’s good stuff on your compost heap. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Hmm, ok, theres obviously a lot more to this pruning business than I thought!  :D I dont even know the names of what half of the shrubs are that need pruning!

    Let me look at this a bit closer and Ill come back on here if thats ok.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Show us some photos of the shrubs and we'll have a go at identifying them ...  a close up so we can identify the leaves and a 'full length' so we can see what you need to do.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    OK, hopefully this gives you a better idea of what Im working with.

    This is a magnolia thats not been maintained in many years. Do you think it needs cutting? If so should I just lop the top bits off? (not sure how Ill get that high)





    I did actually cut this bay tree last week. It was much bigger. Perhaps I should wait and 'refine' with the next prune.




    My attempt at a hazel hedge. I want it thick, so thats why Im thinking of cutting it back.



    Damson tree. Again, hasnt been pruned for many 10+ years.



    I think this is a hawthorn. Growing over the driveway and scratches car roofs.



    This is a quince plant. Again, I want a thick hedge to block the road noise. So my thinking is to prune to encourage thicker growth.



    I dont know what the following is.




    Ill try and get some better shots later.


Sign In or Register to comment.