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Shall I prune my Hypericum now?

Q We have two Hypericum, grown from cuttings some years ago. They are healthy and bloomed well last summer, but have a large amount of dead wood from the ground upwards, underneath the healthy top-most leaves. Cutting this out would mean losing the green foliage at the top of the plants. What should I do? Edward Isaacs, via email

A I suspect the outer leaves have created so much shade beneath that the inner leaves can’t photosynthesise effectively so the plant saves energy by shedding them, leaving bare stretches of stem without leaves.

I have a Hypericum that has done much the same, so last spring and summer I cut some of the branches back to allow more light into the centre of the bush. Buds are starting to appear along the stems much deeper into the plant, and I will now cut back to those buds.

I think you can do much