Monty Don explains exactly what to prune right now for 'vigorous new shoots'
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Gardening expert and TV personality Monty Don dishes out January gardening tips on his blog. The 68-year-old British horticulturalist imparts his wisdom monthly on a range of topics from composting and planting to pruning and mulching. This month, Monty revealed which trees, shrubs and plants require pruning for new growth. Before getting stuck in with the secateurs, Monty advised gardeners to "try to understand how something grows".
If you're uncertain whether a plant needs pruning or how it grows, he suggested holding off on the snipping and waiting. He added: "You will never do harm by not pruning and patience in a garden is a great virtue.". When it comes to fruit trees, Monty warned that if gardeners prune an apple tree harshly in the winter, it will "make a mass of new growth but no flowers – and therefore no fruit". He went on to say: "This cycle is often perpetuated by even harder pruning the following year – to get rid of all that new, fruitless growth, which, having lots of lovely succulent sap, will attract aphids and fungal disease.".
The green-fingered expert cautioned that people can "ruin their fruit trees" by over-pruning in the winter, reports the Express. To curb excessive growth, gardeners should refrain from pruning fruit trees until July when the foliage is fully developed.
Plums, apricots, peaches and cherries should be pruned in late spring if needed. Regarding trained fruit, Monty said the more you cut back trained fruit, the stronger they will regrow. Gardeners should trim any weak growth on these plants in winter to stimulate "vigorous new shoots in spring".
