Shrub pruning in Charlwood

Roses, flowering shrubs and old cottage-garden plants in Charlwood, pruned at the right moment.

Shrub pruning in Charlwood tends to come with a bit of history attached. Many gardens around the church and along The Street belong to old houses in the conservation area, and some of the shrubs in them were planted long before the current owners arrived. A big old lilac or a rambling rose over a porch needs reading before anyone cuts it.

That’s what this service is: plant-by-plant work with secateurs and loppers, timed to when each shrub flowers. It’s a different job from running a trimmer along a hedge. Get the timing wrong and you can cut off a whole year’s flowers, so we don’t guess.

A shrub pruning calendar for Wealden Clay

The rule of thumb is to prune soon after flowering. Forsythia, flowering currant and weigela are cut once the flowers fade in spring. Buddleia, hardy fuchsia and other late flowerers get cut hard in early spring, because they flower on new growth. Roses have their main prune in late winter and are deadheaded through summer. On rich, damp clay a lot of shrubs grow strongly, so a little thinning each year stops them crowding the border and leaning over the paths.

Bringing back shrubs that have taken over

Most overgrown shrubs can be rescued, but not all at once. We take out about a third of the oldest stems each year over two or three seasons, so the plant regrows from the base without the shock of a total cutback. Some, like old lavender, won’t regrow from bare wood, and then it’s kinder to replace them. We’ll tell you which is which.

One honest limit. We prune shrubs, roses and climbers, not trees. Tree work in the conservation area needs six weeks’ notice to the council, and it belongs with an arborist.

Pruning in Charlwood: your questions

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

Is pruning the same as hedge trimming?

No. Hedge trimming shapes a row of plants into a solid line. Pruning is selective cutting on individual shrubs to improve flowering and shape. We do both, and plenty of visits combine hedge and shrub pruning.

When should roses be pruned?

The main prune is in late winter, roughly February into early March, before new growth gets going. Ramblers are the exception and are pruned after they’ve flowered in summer.

Do you take away the prunings?

Yes, always. Everything we cut leaves with us, so you won’t be left with a heap at the bottom of the garden.