With another heatwave forecast, it might be worth postponing your July pruning jobs. Fresh pruning wounds lose moisture quickly, while leaves help keep plants cool, making hot weather the wrong time to reach for your secateurs.
Once temperatures have eased, however, July is the ideal time to prune many early-flowering shrubs that will have finished blooming, and fast-growing climbers and hedges that may be getting a little unruly. A light trim will keep plants healthy and tidy, while encouraging better blooms and stronger harvests next year.
We asked Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society, to share the seven plants to prioritise this month.
1. Philadelphus
This easy-to-grow shrub is famed for its abundant, highly fragranced white flowers. The scent resembles orange blossom, hence its common name ‘mock orange.’
‘Philadelphus flower before midsummer,’ explains Guy. ‘Like most early flowering deciduous shrubs they are pruned soon after flowering so they are kept to the desired size and produce shoots that will flower next year.'
Guy says that typically, you should remove around one in every three older stems, cutting them back almost to ground level by using a pruning saw or long-handled loppers.
‘Some philadelphus are naturally small and this regime works well, but others get pretty big. For big plants, one in three is not enough so cut back flowered shoots to their point of origin to reduce the size of the bush. If it is still too big, consider replacing it with smaller variety.’
2. Weigela
This popular ornamental shrub is known for its colourful flowers and long blooming season.
‘Weigela flowers on shoots made the previous year,’ says Guy. He recommends removing around one in every three older shoots, cutting them back almost to ground level using a pruning saw or long-handled loppers.
'Some bushes get quite crowded with the flowering shoots arching over and new shoots that will flower next year arising just before the bend. Remove the flowered shoots to leave the new, more upright ones, thinning out congested growth as you go.
‘Prune variegated ones harder to encourage more new shoots – pretty foliage is what you’re after and the more growth the better the bush looks.’
3. Deutzia
Popular for its abundant spring flowers, this hardy shrub is reliable and low-maintenance.
‘As with other early-flowering shrubs, removing one shoot in three to near ground level, using a pruning saw or long-handled loppers, is an easy way to prune these free-flowering shrubs – and it retains their natural grace,’ advises Guy. ‘Because they shoot freely from near ground level and flower from low down, cutting out more shoots – one in two, say – is effective in reducing the size of overgrown bushes.
'Some varieties have pretty bark that hangs in strips. Here, keep some of the stems to grow taller, shortening some of the upper shoots that have flowered this year to near the top of the stems.’
4. Wisteria
Wisteria flower freely if left to their own devices but they soon get very big. To prevent this, Guy advises shortening whippy shoots in late summer: ‘This shortening also promotes flower bud formation. Leave five to seven leaves. Return in winter to further shorten these shoots to two buds from the base of the shoot. This makes the flowers more visible.’
5. Fruit trees (apples and pears)
‘Larger trees and bushes are pruned in winter, but restricted forms such as cordons are pruned in late summer as soon as the new shoots are slightly woody at the base,’ says Guy. ‘Shorten the new shoots from existing branches and stems to the third leaf above the basal cluster. Don’t count the basal cluster of leaves as leaves.
‘Some shoots arise from the stub left by last year’s pruning – shorten these to just one leaf above the basal cluster. This pruning encourages flower bud formation and prevents the trained tree from becoming overgrown.’
6. Summer-fruiting raspberries
Summer-fruiting varieties can provide berries from June or July, depending on local conditions. ‘Prune out shoots that have flowered, cutting them off at the base as soon as cropping has finished,’ says Guy. ‘This allows space for the new shoots that will carry next year's crop to grow. The stronger the new shoots the better next year’s crop.’
7. Red and white currants
These are easy to grow and will produce abundant crops.
‘Prune vigorous red and white currant bushes, shortening side shoots to five leaves to prevent them getting overgrown,’ says Guy. ‘Any shoots being grown to replace older ones cut out in winter are retained.
‘Prune cordons in summer by shortening all the new sideshoots to four leaves from the older part of the shoot. This keeps the cordon neat and compact while retaining flowering wood.’
Follow House Beautiful on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest
The Garden Edit
Folding Bistro Set, 3 Pieces
