Shrub pruning in Caterham

Pruning at the right time for each plant, in gardens on chalk, clay and everything between.

Shrub pruning in Caterham gets interesting because the soil doesn’t stay the same for long. A garden on the chalk slopes and one on the clay-capped top can be five minutes apart and grow completely different plants. We prune each shrub for what it is: when it flowers, how it grows, and what it’s rooted in.

It’s hand work, plant by plant, not a hedge trimmer run over everything. All the prunings go away with us. If you’ve searched for pruning services near me and found mostly tree firms, we’re not one. We look after shrubs, roses, climbers and hedges.

Shrub pruning in Caterham when the plant hates chalk

The RHS warns that lime-hating plants won’t grow normally in chalky soil. Rhododendrons are the classic example. If you’ve got one, or a camellia, with leaves yellowing between the veins, the soil is the likely cause, and pruning won’t cure it. We’ll still cut out dead wood and keep it in shape, and we’ll tell you honestly whether it would be happier in a pot of lime-free compost. Plenty of shrubs love chalk, mind you. Buddleia, lilac, philadelphus and most roses do well on it.

Hedge and shrub pruning through the year

Timing is most of the job. Spring-flowering shrubs like forsythia and philadelphus are pruned straight after they flower, or you cut off next year’s display. Late flowerers like buddleia and hardy fuchsia are cut back in early spring. Roses get their main prune in late winter. With an overgrown shrub we renovate over two or three years, taking out a third of the oldest stems each time. And trees? We leave those alone. If something needs a crown reduction, you want an arborist.

Pruning in Caterham: your questions

Anything else, just ring. You’ll speak to the people who do the work.

Is now a good time to prune?

It depends on the plant. As a rough guide: spring flowerers after flowering, summer flowerers in early spring, roses in late winter. Tell us what you’ve got and we’ll plan visits around it.

Do you offer shrub pruning services as a one-off?

Yes. Plenty of people book a single visit to get overgrown shrubs back under control, then add a couple of pruning visits a year. Prunings are always taken away.

Can you prune in the Caterham Barracks conservation area?

Shrubs and hedges, yes. The Village has been a conservation area since 1996, and the extra rules there are about trees, which need notice to the council before any work. That’s a job for an arborist, not us.