Pruning Hydrangea paniculata

Hydrangea paniculata is a class act. The showy clusters of flowers (panicles)  appear in late summer just as the garden is losing its summer appeal and give a welcome boost to beds and borders. The showy flowers range from pure white to deep pink and the colour does not vary according to the acidity of the soil. 

Like so many plants, the pruning regime depends on the effect that you want to achieve. Light or minimal pruning will result in many small flowers and harder pruning will give fewer but larger flowers.  You may wish to leave unpruned for a few years and renovate large shrubs once in a while. As with all shrubs that flower from mid summer onwards, prune just as growth commences in spring.

Hydrangea paniculata

Pruning a Catalpa bignonioides for foliage effect

The Indian bean tree- Catalpa bignoniodes may be saddled with a cumbersome botanical name but it is a glorious plant. Left to its own devices, it grows into a large tree with very attractive summer flowers. It is more of a tree for large gardens and parkland, but can still be grown in small gardens provided it receives an annual hard pruning in spring. Like Paulownia tomentosa mentioned in a previous post, hard pruning results in spectacular bold foliage but sadly, flowers are forfeit. 
Pruning is best carried out in spring at the commencement of new growth. The picture below shows an expertly pruned specimen at the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley.

Luxuriant foliage from a yellow leaved Catalpa as a result of hard pruning

Pruning willows for coloured bark

Willows can provide much needed winter interest with colourful stems but as this is only on young (current season's) growth, a hard pruning regime is necessary to maintain the colour and stop the plants becoming too big for the garden. 

I was working at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley, Surrey doing my tutoring role for the Master of Horticulture and whilst walking in the gardens, I saw these willows that hard received the hard pruning necessary to provide winter interest. You may be surprised at the apparent savagery but willows are very forgiving. If you need more plants, insert the prunings (making sure that they are the right way up) into some moist soil and they will root and grow into new plants. Alternatively a basket maker will certainly take away your prunings, I suggest swapping them for something as they are valuable. 

If you are a timid pruner, I suggest pruning coloured bark willows when you are in a very bad mood! 

Cotinus- an irritating plant

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'- the purple leaved smoke bush is a stunning foliage shrub with rich coppery purple foliage and masses of curious small flowers in summer that appear as a haze of smoke. Like many foliage plants, the colour of the leaves is best on young growths and that may necessitate hard pruning. This pruning is best carried out in spring as soon as growth commences.

So why is the plant irritating?   The problem is that the plant is related to the notorious poison ivy of North America. If sap exposed by pruning cuts comes into contact with your skin, you may suffer nasty and long-lasting irritation. There is no need to panic, just ensure that you wear long sleeves and protective gloves when pruning this plant and avoid carrying out this operation on a sunny day as the sap can cause hypersensitivity to sunlight. 

I also find that the sap can coat pruning tools such as saws so clean them carefully after use. 

Large pruning cuts of Cotinus should be treated with care to avoid possible irritation. 

THE ARS long reach pruner

I love using quality tools and avoid using ladders at all costs when pruning. This is particularly true if the ground is uneven or soft, as it often is in rain soaked Wales. When I needed to reduce the height of this over vigorous specimen of Cotoneaster salicifolius growing on a steep bank, I reached for my ARS long reach pruner and did the job from the safety of a level terrace. 

The tool was not cheap, it cost me nearly £100 but I never regret investing in quality. I have a Bahco long reach pruner that cost about the same amount but it is less convenient to use as the cutting mechanism is operated by a pull cord that annoying wraps itself around  the shaft of the tool and needs frequent untangling. 

The ARS pruner is like a giant pair of secateurs in which the handles are separated from the blades by a long, lightweight shaft. The tool cuts cleanly and I keep the blades sharpened (please see my earlier posts about sharpening). It is worth remembering that this is a modified pair of secateurs and so should never be allowed to cut thick stems. The Bahco pruners can cope with a little more abuse and if they cannot cope, I use my trusty Silky Fox Zubat pole saw. 

My ARS pruner is an invaluable part of my pruning toolkit. 

Putting gooseberry prunings to good use

I recently bought and planted some gooseberry bushes and cut back the main stems to promote bushiness, Rather than wasting the prunings, I inserted them into a pot of growing compost and left them to root. A month or so later, all have rooted with no requirement for rooting compound or special care and attention. The pot was left outside and watered by our generous rainfall. Blackcurrants, red and whitecurrants can be easily propagated from leafless previous season's growth taken from prunings.  In the case of blackcurrants which are very easy to propagate, make sure that healthy growth is selected without any signs of abnormally big buds indicating  gall mite damage. 

I obtained 100% success with these cuttings and all have started to grow strongly and will give me plants for my gooseberry hedge in the autumn. This is a good return on an investment of a few minutes of my time and a small quantity of potting compost. 

Hardwood cuttings of gooseberry made from prunings

Some great ideas for fruit trees

I am lucky that I have the opportunity to visit some of the Royal Horticultural Society gardens as part of my work. A visit last month gave me the opportunity to see some clever training of apple trees as double cordons creating a brilliant effect as well as abundant fruit.

Cordons need careful summer pruning to restrict vigour but allow easily access to fruit and are attractive in their own right, They also allow several varieties to grow in one small space meaning you can have a reasonable quantity of fruit from several varieties rather than a mass of fruit all at one time from a single variety.