The first winter I got brave with pruning, I “tidied up” a lilac on a sunny January afternoon. Come spring, the shrub was covered in lush, healthy leaves… and not a single flower. I’d cut off every ...

Older man pruning tall shrubs in snowy yard. - Svetlana-cherruty/Getty Images Even though perennial plants are still at rest during February's waning days of winter, you still have work to do if you ...

There is a mix of perennials and shrubs that should not be pruned before winter. Keep in mind that any pruning on a plant encourages growth. Pruning stimulates a growth hormone called an auxin. If you ...

Pruning these woody plants back in winter could damage them or ruin their spring flowers. Winter may be the traditional time to prune apple trees and grape vines, but it’s not the right time for all ...

Most woody plants are dormant through winter, making late winter and early spring the most important pruning window of the year — here's a guide to which plants to prune, and how ...

Often known as the butterfly bush, buddleia should be cut back firmly before spring gets going. It flowers on new wood, meaning the blooms you see in the summer grow on shoots produced that year. If ...

Five key plants need cutting back before February ends, or your garden could suffer fewer blooms and smaller harvests this ...

A guide to simple plants to propagate in February from hardwood cuttings before the window shuts at the end of the month, ...

The aim with gooseberries is to create an open, goblet shape. “You want good airflow through the centre,” Ali said. “Remove ...

Miss this crucial period, and gardeners could be left with "fewer blooms", "smaller harvests", and "leggy, overcrowded plants" when summer arrives. Garden authority Ali Lijee from TreeMend highlights ...

Since it produces flowers on new wood—meaning summer blooms emerge from shoots developed that same year—achieving "big, dramatic flower spikes" requires hard pruning "now". Aldi recommends cutting ...