Pruning during spring
 

I wish to maintain the plants in my garden and some of them are abit long so i wish to cut them down a little espcially the roses which are almost out of control so is it ok to prune them down a bit during spring, this month?

Also there is this medium tree in my garden and it hasn't shed its dead leaves and there is no new growth on it, but then i cut some of the tree it didn't seem dry but more bendy is it dead?

thanks for any answers. :)

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Roses are as tough as old boots and can be pruned at virtually any time. Most plants are really pushing to grow now, now pruning is rarely a problem.

As for the "medium tree"... any more details on what it could be?

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Taf is right on the roses, give them a right good going over, hard and deep is the way forward, it's surprising how fast they come back looking better than ever..

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Taf i don't really have any idea what it could be but i thought all trees were supposed to shed their dead leaves by now?

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Pruning should be done all year around if u wanna keep it looking neat and tidy. I trim my bush atleast once a month.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Am I correct in saying that roses, in fact all plants, should be trimmed to just above a leaf joint, and angle the cut so that water will run off it.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Sounds about right, but I thought you pensioners were supposed to be the experts..

Re: Pruning during spring
 

True deciduous trees do, but evergreens keep them (hence the name). If it's an evergreen where the leaves have gone brown, I think you may have lost it to the winter cold. One of our Bay Trees got hammered, but I pruned off the brown leafy bits and it's resprouting now.

Any chance of a couple of photos? One of the tree and a closeup of a leaf?

Re: Pruning during spring
 

I remember watching a Gardner's World programme several years ago and, in an effort to show how effective correct pruning of a rose bush could be, the presenter took a hedge trimmer to one of the overgrown bushes. He commented that, although it was the fastest "prune" he had ever done, the results would show that doing it the slow way would pay off in increased blooms the following year.

The following year he was astounded to find that neither way resulted in any more die back or damage to the bush and that if pushed to comment he would have to admit that the bush that had been done quickly had more blooms on it.

So.... if the roses are very overgrown and you get attacked by the thorns as much as I do then a quick once over with the hedge trimmers may be the way to go.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Not me, when I was working I didn't have time for gardening, 6:00am in the morning to 8:00pm at night, that included Sundays as well.

When I was young at school; I used to help my father who had a 2 acre piec of land, he kep pigs, turkey, geese and fowls on it. He also had a huge greenhouse in which me mainlygrew tomatos, now I do know how to grow those, he taught me very well, last year I grew some outdoor ones at home.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Ok my grandmother was the best gardener I ever knew.She said to leave things alone if you wanted flowers and fruit.Then when they had finished that stage was the time to hard prune them back,usually in the Autumn.
So it's up to you and depends entirely what you are growing.
If you want apples and rose hips you need to let them go through the cycle and then prune.If you want more Rose flowers you need to dead head them to encourage a later budding..
To be honest a damned good gardening book would be a help.Those very cheap books by Dr D G Hessayon are really good.They are easy to understand and a very inexpensive.:)

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Well i left majority of the plants and fruit trees. The pear tree is a bit out of control but i left that alone the roses were a bit dangerous as they are climbers so i had to cut them back a bit.

Here is a picture of the tree i think is dead, don't know how clear it is though.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2170/24042011087.jpg
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There is another plant in my garden which i think is also dead

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/4888/24042011088.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Re: Pruning during spring
 

That first one looks like it was once a fruit tree of some kind. Is there no budding to be seen anywhere on that?

Interesting garden, it looks a lot like mine.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

I think it may have been an apple tree, the one next to it with the green leaves is a pear tree. If the other tree is dead, i don't want to have to pull it out and risk damaging the pear tree's roots because its growing so well.

There is no buds at all, nothing just dead leaves but the twigs don't just snap off, they are still kind of bendy so im not sure.

Re: Pruning during spring
 

Quote:

Examine the tree closely for leaf buds. If none exist, continue examining the tree. Break off a small branch. If the twig breaks off easily and is brown inside without any signs of soft or green wood, your tree may be dead. Scrape off a portion of bark with a knife or chisel. Look for green, soft wood just under the bark. If none is there, your tree may be dead.

Difficult to tell from photo, what type of tree it is.
I'm no expert but the second photo looks like it has green shoots below, could be Monbretia (crocosmia) or some type of grass. Pull out the dead bits to tidy, it should grow back alright. I believe roses should be trimmed above an outward facing bud. Hope this helps Zee.:)