There have been several recent threads that posed questions about pruning, so perhaps setting out what the options are for working from a wildlife gardening perspective may be helpful.
The advice on what to prune, given in a previous thread and based on the three Ds - Dead, Diseased and Damaged, generally holds good.
Dead wood. Although dead wood is an important mini habitat, leaving dead wood on a living plant opens up the plant to further damage and disease. Unless there is a clear understanding of what the consequences of leaving dead wood in situ are then it is always best to prune it out.
Diseased material. In the confines of most gardens the consequences of leaving diseased material – leaves, buds, shoots and wood in place – will be the eventual loss of a whole plant and a potential spread of disease to others. Pruning is usually the most effective control.
Damaged material. Leads to die back and infection, in most cases best removed promptly.
There is a fourth D – Disposal. If dead wood is to be incorporated into the garden to support habitat it is worth placing it at a distance from the parent plant (and other members of the same species) to avoid contamination with any disease or parasite that may be present. Diseased material should always be burnt or removed from site. Freshly damaged material can be composted, otherwise treat as if diseased.
The ‘when to prune’ question is more complex for the wildlife gardener. Ornamental gardening is generally concerned with plant form, flowering and to a lesser degree fruiting. Wildlife may require a rather different prioritisation.
Plant Form. This is a complex area and the individual gardener is probably best placed to decide what works in their garden. The obvious limitation though is where a plant supports active nesting. If the plant produces prodigious growth during the nesting season then a pruning regime needs to match how the indvidual plant and the garden as a whole is managed – for instance it may not be possible to have both nesting birds and a neatly trimmed hedge.
Flowering. Ornamental gardening principles are generally focussed on flower display and in most cases the standard advice is to prune directly after flowering has finished. This has two benefits, in some cases a second flowering can be promoted in the same season, and most importantly, in plants that flower from ‘old wood’, a maximum amount of time is allowed between flowering and the next season's bud development. For wildlife gardeners when to prune depends upon whether flowering or fruiting in a particular plant is the more important consideration.
Fruiting. Pruning directly after flowering removes some or all of the potential fruits. Where the fruits are of wildlife significance – something noted in the Buddleja thread – this may require using a pruning strategy that differs from that recommended for an ornamental approach.
Unfortunately there are no absolute rules, different plants have different growth, flowering and fruiting strategies and each gardener has to decide what role each plant is to make in a given garden. In very broad terms, deciduous plants are best pruned in winter, but if you want a great display from your Forsythia, pruning in the months before spring will bring disappointment because you’ll probably remove all the flowering wood. Again in very broad terms, evergreen plants are best pruned in the growing season, but cut holly after it has flowered and you’ll have no berries in the following winter.
CM
Linear Mode
