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Pruning and cutting back is important if your plants are to give their best display or crop, and to prevent them outgrowing their space. Most woody ornamental plants are best pruned in the dormant season or, if they are spring flowering, as soon as the flowers begin to fade. Most...

. This will again cause sideshoots to grow and the plants can be given a final shaping and tidy up if necessary in early autumn. Box topiary, secateurs, sheep-hand shears, large scissors or garden shearsMay - August 20 minutes for each plantUse secateurs scissors

by tying them in to the hedge with a strong rope.Pruning and shaping your plantsViburnum, with Chris BeardshawShrub roses, with Monty DonPruning plantsBox topiaryBrowse a variety of deciduous treesView a selection of hazel plants

in shape and involves pruning the soft, current season's growth before it has chance to become woody.Secateurslate-June - mid-August 50 minutes for medium-sized tree Cut back the leading shoots of each branch by half their length to encourage the production

to your garden.

Plum trees can be prone to silver leaf disease if pruned in winter, so cut them back in summer to encourage the development of bushy growth, which stops them becoming too large and unmanageable. Plum treeSecateurs June - July 20 minutesUse secateurs to cut back this season's grow...

Pruning roses keeps them in shape and encourages more flower growth and healthier plants. Cut weak shoots right back to promote stronger growth from the base.Rose bushSecateursautumn or spring20 minutesRemove dead shoots and the tips of stems

Most rambling roses only flower once during the season which means that they can be pruned as soon as they've finished flowering. Cutting out the flowered stems makes space for vigorous new shoots which grow from the base of the plant. These can be tied in ready to flower next se...

Summer pruning wisteria encourages the development of short-flowering spurs that will carry the long racemes of bloom in spring. The long vigorous shoots are cut back to a couple of buds from the base of the current season's growth. During initial training of young wisteria plant...

Winter pruning wisteria encourages the development of short-flowering spurs that carry the flowers in spring. The long vigorous shoots produced on the wisteria need to be cut back at least twice during the year, so you'll need to repeat this pruning in late-June or early July.Wis...