Pruning flowering shrubs
NIPPING about with a pair of secateurs, at this time of year, is playing at pruning. ‘Cut hard in the spring’ is a ruthless instruction for a ruthless operation. And the shrubs that need hard pruning during the next six weeks can be divided into four categories - deadwood dicks, crew-cuts, two-eyes and willow pattern. There are some shrubs that do not may be almost a climber in similar places and romneyas may retain a little of their wood in the luxury of humidity that follows the Gulf Stream. But in the more austere parts of the country, where frost comes dry and humourless, these might well be classed as herbaceous perennials. They die down to the ground each year. The only pruning is to remove the dead wood to make way for next year’s growth. Hardy and tough, the scrub shrubs will stand up to frost, fighting back with a tangle of twiggy growth that is impervious to the cold. But this same twiggy growth can be their undoing as ornamental plants. It can become a tangled mass of undergrowth, choking back the flowers.
