Even beginners when it comes to gardening usually already know that the garden is pruned diligently in spring. But meteorological spring officially begins in March, so February is often forgotten for this reason. And it is precisely this month that the first bushes should be cut. Which exactly should you plan for pruning in February?
However, it is important to know exactly how you should cut. Because while some plants only need to be cared for and trimmed, others need more radical pruning. Which one is optimal when depends on their flowering time.
A little guide: When is which cut suitable?
In general:
- Plants that bloom in summer are cut back in late winter/spring. They then form new shoots and their flower buds on these.
- Plants that bloom in spring form their flower buds in the previous season, so. By pruning in February you would remove them so that there would be no flowering.
The difference between pruning and topiary/maintenance pruning
Maybe you can already guess, but let's summarize it again:
- Pruning is a very radical cut because it involves removing the wood from the previous year. What remains is the “framework” made from the old wood, so to speak. The latter is only trimmed if it is sick or dead.
- With topiary pruning, on the other hand, you cut as little as possible and only what is necessary to give the plant the desired shape. This is also combined with a care cut. This is intended to free the plant from diseased and dead parts of the plant or to thin it out so that more light can reach the interior.
Which garden shrubs need pruning in February?
Of course, there are a number of shrubs that need pruning in February. But since we can't list them all, we'll focus on three of them that are particularly beautiful and often found in our gardens.
A notice:Choose a frost-free day for any plants you will be cutting this month
Pruning hydrangeas in spring
The only thing you can do wrong when it comes to pruning this pretty shrub is cutting the wrong variety at the wrong time. Because not all hydrangeas are the same.
So before you grab the secateurs, you should find out:to which cutting groupYour shrub counts. There are two groups of this plant:
- Varieties that produce flower buds the previous year
As already mentioned above, you shouldnotcut radically in spring. Exceptions are sick and dry branches. However, you can carry out a light shape cut and trim the shoot tips up to the first bud. Even shoots that appear weak or sickly can be safely removed.
This variant includes:Garden hydrangea, all farmer's hydrangeas(also oak leaf hydrangeas, climbing hydrangeas, giant leaf hydrangeas, fur or velvet hydrangeas, plate hydrangeas), except 'Endless Summer' & 'The Bride' and 'Forever & Ever Pink')
- Varieties that bloom on annual shoots
These are the ones that you can cut now in February, as they are yet to form their flower buds for this year's bloom. Therefore, you can confidently and courageously use the scissors. Cut back to the “basic structure” because in this way you stimulate strong new growth. And the sooner you do this, the sooner the first flowers will appear.
These include:Panicle hydrangea, viburnum hydrangea(also known as ball or bush hydrangea)
Also read:How and when you should prune the viburnum hydrangea
Pruning the clematis in February
If you have purchased a clematis, we would like to congratulate you because it is a truly impressive specimen. But now the question arises as to whether your variety needs pruning in February. There are even three groups of this beauty.
- Group 1blooms in spring. So stay away from her for now.
- In theGroup 2are the summer bloomers and, as already mentioned, you can cut them in February. In fact, this pruning is necessary so that it blooms profusely in summer.
BUT:You should by no means cut too radically, but rather proceed like a shape and care cut. So remove unnecessary shoots that are weak, diseased or dead and only shorten the intact plant shoots to the first bud.
- AtGroup 3you can be brave. It has to be you! The varieties from this cutting group have the property of becoming quite rampant if they are not controlled with the help of radical cutting. These clematis varieties, which bloom in late summer, are therefore cut back in February to half a meter or a meter above the ground. This means that the plant still has enough time to grow back and produce its flowers before the normal flowering period and at the same time it is kept under control.
You can find out more about this topicin this post.
What you should consider with hibiscus
If you have the beautiful hibiscus in your garden, you should also prune itGardening in February, but in the garden hibiscus.
- ItPerennial hibiscusyou cut it in late autumn.
- DemGarden marshmallowyou can take up to a third of his crown. It is advisable to maintain the natural crown shape. What does that mean exactly?
So that enough light can penetrate inside and lush leaf and flower growth is guaranteed, you should thin it out if necessary, i.e. remove one or two branches inside. At the same time, you can achieve this to a certain extent by making the outer branches shorter. So try to achieve an even step cut starting from the inner ones and working towards the outside.
Shrub roses, noble roses, climbing roses and wild roses
All of them are beautiful, but have different cutting needs. Depending on what species it is, it is cut in February or not. These are the rules:
- Shrub roses and climbing roses
Wood that is three years old in particular should be removed. To do this, cut them back to the ground. You should also shorten the younger rose shoots a little, but not quite as radically as the old wood. This applies not only to the shrub roses, but also to thepopular climbing roses.
- Edelrosen
With these beautiful specimens, everything that doesn't produce flowers is removed in February. You can usually quickly recognize such wild shoots by the appearance of the shoot, because they are thinner and lighter than normal ones and usually have fewer leaves. They consume nutrients without ever producing flowers and are therefore unnecessary. Other shoots that appear weak can also be removed. Strong rose shoots are shortened and trimmed if necessary if they are annoying or damaged.
- Wildrosen
If it is a variety that only blooms once a year, this means that it already formed its flower heads the previous year and, as you already know, this means that it is better not to use the scissors here, or rather only when necessary. The other varieties are only cut sparingly, for example if the growth is too dense for thinning.
Other garden shrubs and trees that you should cut now
Some other trees and shrubs that you should consider pruning in February include:
- Bartblume
- Berry bushes
- Blauraute
- Blauregen
- Fingerstrauch
- Large-flowered St. John's wort
- Pome fruit (e.g. apple, quince and pear)
- Kiwi
- Lavender
- Buddleia
- Sommerheide
- Tafeltrauben
