If you didn’t get around to finishing all your pruning before now this is your last chance before birds start looking for nesting sites - overgrown hedges and shrubs need to be tackled. Tidying up the old stems of herbaceous perennials left on for winter interest should be cut back along with grasses to allow new tender growth to emerge.
Other shrubs to prune are hardy evergreens such as Prunus laurocerasus & Viburnum tinus, cut out over-crowded stems or awkward branches that spoil the shape of the plant. Late-flowering shrubs like Buddleja & Ceanothus can also be tackled this month. These shrubs flower on growth made in the spring so you can be quite brutal – if you’ve had a bad a day this one is for you! Cut back as hard as you dare – if you want to increase the size of the shrub then leave on few stems onto maintain the size and give a light prune.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash