Here are our top tips for things to do in January:

Plant rootball stock

Now is a good time for planting trees, shrubs and hedging. These include bare-rooted plants and rootballed stock from our fields which can only be dug during dormancy. Always select plants appropriate to the conditions on site and take time to make appropriate site preparations to help the plants get the best possible start. We can provide you with all the advice you need about site preparation and aftercare, but we will ask you for information regarding the conditions on site. If in doubt, why not book a site visit so that we can come to you and assess the site for you?

Pruning

Apple and pear fruit trees should be pruned now in mid-winter. Pplums and cherries require summer pruning.

Weather allowing, give Wisteria its New Year prune in mid-January to encourage flowering in spring. The long whippy shoots produced last summer should have been cut back to about five buds in August. These now need to be pruned back further to two or three buds to concentrate all the energy into these for flower production rather than leaf growth. If you missed the summer pruning, it is still worth trying the hard pruning now.

Repairs

After storms and gales, check for signs of damage to trees, shrubs or hedge plants. If necessary, prune to leave a tidy cut rather than tears or splits which could spread or be an entry point for infection. Check newly-planted plants for signs of heave or wind rock, as well as checking stakes and ties. If you have a storm-damaged fence, consider whether you might be better off just planting a hedge instead.

If we get heavy snow, give clipped hedges or topiary a gentle shake to remove some of it and reduce the weight to avoid damage or the shapes being spoilt.

During periods of snow or frosts, rabbits and hares struggle to eat the frozen grass and often resort to gnawing stems and bark to get to the sap and soft tissues beneath. If they do enough damage and/or ring-bark the tree it could die. Therefore if you are planning to plant trees where rabbits are an issue, ensure that you add rabbit guards.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

Most deciduous shrubs that have lost their shape or need their growth restricting can be hard pruned now. It is quite amazing to see just how vigorously hard pruned shrubs grow back over the coming months.

Before you start pruning, carefully assess the plant to see what shape you are trying to achieve. Then start pruning carefully. Remember to stand back regularly to assess what further work needs to be done to achieve your goal rather than attacking it with one big hack.

Branches up to 1cm in diameter can be tackled with a good pair of secateurs. Larger branches will need a pair of loppers or a pruning saw according to size. Aim to remove weak, crossing or rubbing branches and any that appear to be diseased until the desired shape is achieved. Try to prune back to an obvious point such as where another branch grows out or to an obvious dormant bud. It is best to avoid great ‘amputations’ that can result in masses of weak regrowth that also spoils the shape of the shrub.

Most summer and autumn flowering shrubs will still flower normally the same year if pruned now. If they don’t, they will usually reward you with an extra heavy flowering the following year. Spring flowering shrubs are best pruned after flowering. However if you need to prune now then you’ll only lose the flowering for one season. Plus the plant will probably flower more strongly the following year.

There are some exceptions:

Japanese acers can react quite poorly to hard pruning.

Some shrubs such as Amelanchier are better thinned. This means selectively remove entire branches, thereby keeping an open structure. This maintains their grace rather than an all-over prune.

For some flowering shrubs, such as Lilac, Mock Orange, etc, the traditional advice would be to work to a three year cycle. Completely cut out the oldest stems/branches, roughly a third of them each year. This keeps the shrub refreshed and to stop it getting too congested and woody. You don’t need to worry too much about doing this if the shrub is still relatively young. It’s more of a factor when the shrub is already getting quite old and woody and needs “restoring”. If you do just prune the whole thing back hard at this time of year it will produce lots of new, young growth which, if it doesn’t flower this year, will do so next year. There’s no need to over complicate pruning and no need to worry.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406. We can also create a bespoke quote.

March can be an odd month for temperatures. Our gardens can be bathed in warm sunshine or buried under snow. So it’s important to regularly check containers and newly planted evergreens for watering if not frozen. Remember that plants’ moisture requirements will increase with their rate of growth. If warm spells induce early growth, be ready with some horticultural fleece to protect the plant when the inevitable frost comes.

Prune roses, ideally before the leaf buds start to open. However unless you are growing them for the show table there is usually no need to prune them as hard or as fussily as has traditionally been taught. Most, if the stems aren’t too thick, will actually perform better if simply cut with a hedge trimmer into a tidy shape. However, if Rust or Blackspot fungal diseases were a problem last year, now is the time to give them a preventative spray or two with an appropriate fungicide. If you wait until the symptoms are visible on the leaves it is already too late to get on top of it for the year.

Providing that conditions are not frozen, March is the ideal time for hard pruning and tidying many of the vigorous deciduous shrubs, such as ornamental Elders (Sambucus). As well as those which flower in mid to late summer, such as Buddleia. This is also the best time to hard prune Dogwoods (Cornus) to promote fresh growth of vividly-coloured stems for next winter’s display.

As growth starts, early spring is a good time to feed woody plants with a balanced fertiliser. We recommend Fish, Blood and Bone or a good rose food. You can also spread any remaining usable compost from the compost bin that wasn’t dug-in earlier in the winter. Plus mulch beds to help prevent soils from drying out in summer.

Spike and scarify the lawn. If conditions are mild enough for grass growth, you may need to give the lawn its first cut of the year this month. Do remember to raise the height of the blades though.

Look out for weeds. Dealing with them now will save a lot of work later.

Check the roots of container plants for Vine Weevil grubs before they have a chance to pupate into adults.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406. We can also create a bespoke quote

Why prune?

Pruning helps to keep the size and shape of your plants in check, keep them healthy and maximises their potential growth.

When to prune?

The best time to prune is late winter/early Spring when the hard frosts are behind us. Pruning too early will leave the plants exposed and at risk of being damaged if there is a hard frost. Mild frosts of -1 or -2 won’t affect recently pruned plants.

Pruning plants during the dormant season is effectively like doing it whilst they’re asleep. They will then wake up in the Spring knowing exactly where and how to grow!

Plants go through two ‘flush’ phases during the year. The first and largest is between April and June and then again from the end of August to October. Pruning before this big period of growth will prepare them to flourish!

The exception is early flowering shrubs which will already have flower buds on. It’s probably best to leave pruning them until them until mid-summer when they’re in full growth and after flowering.

Also Cherry trees are best pruned when they are in full growth. Winter pruning can allow disease to enter the plants.

Do you have Birch trees? They can bleed a lot after pruning. So don’t leave it too late to ensure they’re still dormant when you prune.

How to prune

At this time of year, you can give your plants a really hard prune to get them back into shape. Remember to cut shrubs and trees back to just above the bud so they’ve got something to grow back from.

Don’t worry about cutting evergreen leaves on your hedging plants. This won’t cause any harm.

A good pair of secateurs should be sufficient to prune back shrubs and smaller hedging plants. For larger hedges you’ll need some hedging shears or a petrol hedge trimmer.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

If you unsure about how to prune your plants or have a specific concern, please get in touch. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.

• at the end of April
• at the end of May
• a final one at the end of June

It is not advisable to feed after this with anything that is too high in nitrogen as it can make the plants too soft going into the autumn and winter. My personal preference is for a granular feed that can be scattered around the base of the plant and then watered in. But if you want to be organic you can use blood, fish and bone according to the manufacturers recommendations. Or use one of the water-soluble feeds if this fits in with your watering regimes.

Feeding at this time of year is particularly advisable for evergreens such as laurels, which are greedy feeders and can be looking a bit yellow and starved at this time of year. A feed now will dramatically improve their colour and maximise the amount of spring growth.

A hungry yellow laurel

Need specific advice? Just ask!

If you’d like to discuss your requirements with one of experienced team, please get in touch. We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.

As we pass into late spring, everything is growing vigorously. We would strongly advise to check newly planted trees and shrubs for water stress now that they have fully come out of dormancy. Beware of dry spells but also be aware that roots need to breathe so too much water (waterlogging) will do as much harm as not enough. Water stress can be particularly noticeable on newly planted laurels. The picture above shows how it is usually the older leaves that yellow first through water stress. But in spring this may coincide with the usual shedding of the oldest leaves anyway.

It is necessary to carry out a regular watering regime for the first two years. At this time of year I would recommend watering as follows:-

• Our big shrubs  – 4 litres  (1 gallon or ½ a large watering can) every 2 to 3 days.
• Our trees and instant laurel hedging – 9 litres (2 gallons or 1 large watering can) every 2 to 3 days.
• Our very big trees – 18 litres (4 gallons or 2 large watering cans) every 2 to 3 days.

However, in particularly hot, dry, sunny and/or windy weather you may need to increase the frequency further, or reduce it in a period of wet weather. Also alter the amounts accordingly depending on the conditions on site as poorly-drained sites. Those on heavy clay will need less watering than those on sandy soils.

Plants usually give you fair warning that they are stressed before they die by turning older leaves yellow and then dropping them. In severe drought the soft new growth wilts and shrivels!

If you have a soaker hose fitted on an outside timer make sure it is switched on for at least 20 minutes a day (sandier soils may require more).

A lot of plants, in particular laurels, can look hungry in the spring. This is indicated by the plant yellowing. We would advise an immediate feed with a high nitrogen fertiliser and with a follow up treatment at the end of June or early July.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

If in doubt or if you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch. We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.

Evergreens can also look particularly brown if there’s been a ‘Beast from the East’ weather event which practically freeze dries plants. Don’t worry, this isn’t permanent damage and the plants aren’t dying. The brown leaves will start to drop off as spring progresses and new young fresh growth will emerge. A good fertiliser regime will maximise the new growth and help to repair the damage as soon as possible

We would recommend the use of a high nitrogen feed with lower rates of potash and phosphate. In the case of Photinia they will also benefit from a good dose of magnesium at the same time. Feeds like these can be bought from any reputable garden centre.

It is a good idea to give your plants another feed at the end of May and a final one at the end of June. Coincide this last feed with a good prune and your plants will soon be back to full health.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

If you have any specific concerns about your evergreen plants, please get in touch. We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.

A common misconception is that evergreens don’t drop their leaves. They do, just not all at once. They shed the oldest foliage throughout the year to varying degrees. However most evergreens drop the greatest amount in spring and early summer coinciding with the new season’s vigorous flush of growth. If left unchecked some species can quickly become leggy after their spring leaf drop. This is especially true of species like the Photinia as they tend to produce the new growth at the shoot tips and shedding what’s below or behind. A spring prune can be used to force them to reshoot lower down and thicken up again.

To avoid damage, don’t prune evergreens during a cold snap. Also bear in mind nesting birds. Not only would it be ethically and environmentally undesirable to disturb nesting birds but it is also illegal. Therefore, you should always check for nesting activity first before pruning dense evergreens and delay if necessary, until August if you have to.

Many of the more vigorous evergreen species such as laurel and Photinia are also quite hungry plants. They can often be a little starved for nutrients at this time of year, especially in their first couple of years after planting. A balanced feed such as Fish, Blood and Bone applied twice per year, once in March or April and then again in mid-June, will help to keep them growing well. It will also encourage them to quickly reshoot after pruning.

For key signs of nutrient deficiency, such as yellowing of the foliage, then a bigger “boost” in spring may be required. You should apply a suitable high-nitrogen fertiliser, and perhaps followed by an application of Epsom Salts for a jolt of Magnesium, to restore a lustrous green.

Need specific advice? Just ask!

If you have any specific concerns about pruning your evergreen plants, please get in touch. We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.

To maximise the next crop of flowers, most flowering hedges are best cut straight after flowering each year, if possible, but to do so would inevitably reduce the number of berries, fruit, seeds or nuts in autumn – not ideal for varieties chosen for ornamental berries such as Pyracantha, as well as reducing food sources for wildlife. Most deciduous hedges could almost be clipped at any time of year, avoiding frozen conditions of course. Evergreen hedges usually respond best if cut during the growing season in spring or summer, in fact they can suffer damage if clipped in the autumn.

There’s no ideal time to satisfy every possible criteria for pruning hedges, but February is the month which can often come closest. Deciduous species can be pruned in mild weather now and, although it’s too early to give evergreens a full hedge trim with shears or hedge clippers, when a winter is as mild as this one has been it wouldn’t do any harm to give a light trim (or selective restorative/formative pruning for that matter) to tidy up any wayward shoots on broad-leaved evergreens in mild weather.

As well as avoiding the nesting season, another benefit of pruning in February is that there won’t be any “wasted” growth, by that I mean that the hedge plants won’t yet have put on any extension growth only for it to be cut off later; pruning now will induce side shooting and thickening of the hedge from buds further back, within the canopy, giving a thicker and more dense hedge.

Around the British countryside the most widely used hedging plant is of course Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna; it’s tough, grows well in a very wide range of conditions, is early into leaf and, with regular pruning, forms a dense hedge. Unlike many more ornamental options, you don’t have to be too fussy about how you prune Hawthorn – it is common for farmers to use tractor-mounted flail cutters to trim Hawthorn field hedges, something which you’d never dream of doing with a formal hedge! However, to keep the hedge dense all the way down to the base it is important to prune it with slightly sloping sides, wider at the base than at the top, allowing light to reach the foliage all the way down.

If not clipped as a hedge, Hawthorn will eventually grow into an attractive small tree. However, since it doesn’t naturally grow very straight on its own it doesn’t tend to be grown very often as a tree commercially, but there are other members of the Crataegus genus which are more tree-like in habit and will make excellent garden trees. “Paul’s Scarlet” is a popular choice, with semi-double or double deep-pink flowers; unfortunately, it doesn’t produce many berries as the fully double flowers are sterile.

A less commonly seen member of the Hawthorn family is Crataegus prunifolia, which has a leaf more similar in shape to that of a cherry tree than a Hawthorn, and glossier too, but this is a small tree which really earns its place in the garden. It carries hard thorns which are over an inch long, making it an ideal boundary tree for security planting… and Crataegus prunifolia can also be planted in a shrub form to be clipped into an impenetrable security hedge. The bark colour of the twigs and thorns starts as a deep plum-colour, maturing to a silvery-grey. The white flowers are very similar to our native May Blossom, although they are produced about three weeks later, but the greatest features of this stunner show themselves in autumn when the foliage turns first golden yellow, then fiery orange and, if exposed to enough direct sunlight in summer, bright scarlet and coppery-purple. Whilst this colour change is happening, the berries mature into large, deep-red Haws, clearly displayed against the golden yellow leaf tints to entice hungry birds.

The simplest way to provide screening without risking issues with the High Hedge legislation is not to plant evergreens, or just plant individual evergreen trees to cover specific key sightlines and then plant deciduous trees in between. Most deciduous trees will provide varying degrees of cover from spring until autumn, but one of the best to provide screening in domestic gardens is a type of ornamental pear tree, Pyrus calleryana Chanticlear, which retains its leaves far longer than most others.

Pyrus Chanticlear is a good option for screening in most gardens as it doesn’t take up too much space, has a well contained root system (ie the roots aren’t too invasive) and, most importantly, as well as leafing up earlier than most trees in spring it usually holds its leaves into December. This ornamental pear tree produces white blossom in early spring and, if it gets enough direct sunlight, gives a show of coppery-red foliage in autumn.

Pyrus trees prefer a well-drained soil, anything from slightly acid to slightly limy, but not too dry – add plenty of organic material if planting in sandy soils. Unlike pear trees grown for fruit, which need a relatively warm, sheltered site for the fruit to ripen, these ornamental pear trees do not produce edible fruit and can therefore be grown in pretty exposed areas. In fact, an exposed site can actually be an advantage for Pyrus calleryana Chanticlear as, although they’re generally quite problem-free, good airflow can help to reduce potential issues with the airborne fungal diseases that can affect pear and apple trees, such as Mildew and Scab, which can cause spots on leaves or curly foliage.

For some gardens it may be necessary to limit the size that these ornamental pear trees will grow to; Pyrus Chanticlear could eventually reach thirty to forty feet tall if never pruned, but they respond really well to training and to being clipped and are easy to prune. The best time to prune ornamental pear trees is when they’re fully dormant in December or January, using clean, sharp tools and cutting above a healthy bud.

Pyrus calleryana Chanticlear can be clipped into semi-formal shapes, such as ‘lollipops’ or ‘box-headed’ trees, but where space is really limited, or simply to provide an attractive backdrop, the ideal screening option is to plant ‘pleached’ trees, where the trees have been trained into a relatively flat shape (usually above a clear stem or trunk) to give the effect of a hedge on legs! To achieve this effect you can plant the pear trees as younger stock, training the branches against a sturdy wire or wooden framework as they grow, or you can buy pleached Pyrus Chanticlear pre-trained and ready to plant as more mature specimens for instant results; for either option, talk to your nursery for advice. Pleached trees need to be clipped every year, so when pruning pleached pyrus it is still best to perform major pruning jobs during dormancy in December or January, but a basic annual tidy up can be done by trimming back the younger growth in late summer.

So, to sum up, if you want a useful tree to provide screening from overlooking windows or to block unsightly views, one which does not cause problems with “High Hedge” laws, has flowers in spring, foliage colour in autumn, has well behaved roots, is easy to look after and is easy to prune and train then the ornamental pear tree, Pyrus calleryana Chanticlear, may well be the tree for you.