We and our advertising partners use cookies on this site. Please see our Terms of Use for further details.

Garden.Help Logo Graphic

About Us | Terms of Use

Diagnose plant problems and treat garden pests

Gardening News

General Help

Specialists

Have a go...

Win and Save

Interactive Tools

Plant Doctor


More...

Home / Projects /

How to Prune


Difficulty: 2 / 5

You will need: Secateurs, Pruning Saw, Gloves

The first rule of pruning is to remove the four Ds. Dead, Dying, Diseased and Damaged. This is best done in winter when you can see the problem. Aftr that prune for reversion and tidying.

Best time to do it:

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Step One:

For larger branches, remove any obvious dead, diseased or damaged wood, cutting back to live wood using a clean saw.

Step 1 of How to Prune

Step Two:

Smaller shoots can be cut using clean secatuers cutting back just above an outward facing bud.

Step 2 of How to Prune

Step Three:

A green shoot on a varigated shrub needs removing at its base. This is known as reversion and any all green shoots are stonger and eventually take over, changing the look of the plant.

Step 3 of How to Prune

Step Four:

Remove old flower heads from plants like lavendar in spring to allow room for new growth.

Step 4 of How to Prune

Related FAQs


Ask a gardening question:


Looking for more garden ideas for this month? Try another project or watch a gardening video for some more inspiration.

Latest Gardening News



Gardening Projects for March


Learn about How to Chit Potatoes
Learn about  How to Care for Bulbs after flowering
How to Chit Potatoes

Difficulty: 2 / 5

Learn about How to grow cucumbers
Learn about How to control slugs
How to grow cucumbers

Difficulty: 2 / 5

How to control slugs

Difficulty: 1 / 5

Gardening Ideas


Plant Specialists

Diagnose orchid plant problems and improve orchid care
Orchid Doctor
Diagnose fruit plant pests and fruit plant problems
Soft Fruit Doctor
Do a soil test to find out your soil type
Soil Doctor
Diagnose pest and disease problems with fruit trees and bushes.
Top Fruit Doctor


Gardening Tools

Learn which plant pests attack which types of fruit.
Fruit Pests
Learn when and how to prune different types of plants
Pruning Guide
Learn which plants will grow in your soil
Soil pH Guide
Learn when and how to plant different vegetable seeds
Vegetable Planting Guide