Monty Don shares 5 plants that must be pruned now by using 1 rule to get ‘lots of flowers’ (Image: Getty)
is a crucial gardening task for controlling growth, shaping plants, creating flowering or fruiting branches for the upcoming season, and, most importantly, removing dead, damaged or diseased plant areas.
According to gardening expert , effective pruning must be done at the right time, which varies depending on the plant variety, and should follow “one rule”.
Monty shared insights on when and how to prune this month in his March gardening jobs post. He advised using very sharp and clean secateurs, also known as shears.
The most commonly used tool for this task is bypass secateurs, designed like scissors with one thin and one thick cutting blade.
They cause minimal damage to the stem, making them ideal for cutting live plants and lighter tasks such as cutting flowers.
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Always use very sharp and clean secateurs (Image: Getty)
Gardeners could use kitchen scissors for plants with soft stems, but they must be very clean to avoid introducing infection, which could kill the plant.
Monty claimed that the first half of March is the “best time to prune any shrubs and climbers” that will on new growth, particularly late-flowering clematis, and buddleia.
The gardening expert noted that he likes to do this when he “starts to see new shoots appearing”.
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Gardeners are advised to “resist the temptation to do so” if February is mild, as a late frost could damage any new growth.
Shrubs like Cornus and Sambucus can be pruned back hard to stimulate new shoots, which will “glow with extra bright colour next winter”.
As previously mentioned, Monty insists there’s “only one rule to follow” when pruning, and that’s to “always cut back to something”, whether it’s a side shoot or leaf bud.
Beyond that, the 69-year-old encourages gardeners to not fret over outward-facing buds or other details.
Monty explained that the purpose of pruning, according to his rule, is to “encourage vigorous new growth that will, in turn, produce lots of flowers”.
For climbing plants like the Viticella group of clematis, pruning aims to prevent flowers from growing higher and higher up the plant, leaving the lower part bare.