Wealden Times | WT165 | November 2015 | Gift supplement inside

air circulation by thinning out the canopy a little and cut
off crowded branches. As with any shrub or tree that suckers
often from underneath a graft, pull off the suckers rather
than cut them off – the latter will just encourage the suckers
to re-grow stronger than before. I’ve been guilty of that with
a lovely Crataegus tanacetifolia and with the wedding cake
tree, Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ which has obviously been
grafted on to something more ordinary. It’s so tempting to cut
the suckers though when you have your secateurs at the ready.
Late-flowering shrubs like lavateras and buddleias are
pretty shallow rooted and prone to wind rock in the winter,
so it’s always worth taking the shrub down a bit to improve
their chances. Whatever you do, don’t prune them right back
until the spring. There used to be a thought that cutting
buddleias down in February was a good move but the later
you leave it, the later they’ll flower and provide food for
butterflies and the few remaining insects flying around.
Winter is a good time to take stock and to decide whether
to give that poorly performing shrub another chance. It’s
difficult getting rid of a plant, even if it is a bit of a no hoper.
When I worked in a nursery I would actually feel sorry for
the plants that had been turfed out on to the compost heap.
Some roses don’t come up to scratch or they produce flowers
that are not to your taste or are just past their best. Either
get them out completely or think about giving them a good
prune and feed with plenty of organic material. There is no
use giving space to a rose which, year after year, is prone to
blackspot or similar. There are so many plants to choose from,
that perform better, that it is best to start again. I think it’s
the same with some shrubs that have completely outgrown
their space and are wrecking their neighbours with unruly
behaviour. Think about propagating anything that you
particularly like before doing away with it though. All this
rather depends on whether you have noticed what has been
going on with your borders in the summer…
I know you wouldn’t do it, but remember not to prune
back at this time of year, any shrub that flowers in late winter
or early spring. I used to visit a garden where each shrub was
treated identically by the gardener. They were all in sort of
regimental squares and they didn’t ever flower or do anything
interesting. Things there have since changed for the better
and the same shrubs are now looking natural and floriferous –
they can be tidied, if essential, after flowering.
Can I also make a plea for birches; such beautiful trees.
They can be grown either as single-stemmed trees or multistemmed
– and if you want a straight trunk, the time to take
off a few of the lower branches is in late summer. Whatever
you do, avoid pruning from early winter until very late
spring, as any wounds created by pruning bleed badly and
damage the tree. We have a Betula ermanii which had a lesion
caused by I know not what, at the end of last summer. Sap
poured out of it – manna from heaven for the local gang
of hornets – so at dead of night and once the hornets had
returned to their nest, we bandaged it up with old strips of
sheeting and, isn’t nature marvellous, it healed itself.
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810 457948 for
gardening advice and the sourcing and supplying of
interesting garden plants.
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