JOBS TO DO IN SPRING

Photo: Lightly prune Hydrangea.

Lightly prune mophead and lacecap hydrangeas, taking off the old flower heads and cutting just above a strong pair of buds. Remove very spindly twigs. On old, congested bushes, take out some of the oldest stems at ground level. Hard prune Hydrangea paniculata and its cultivars, such as 'Kyushu' and 'Grandiflora', to leave two or three pairs of buds on each branch.

Evergreen hedges such as yew and cypress should also be planted now. Pot-grown hedging evergreens can be planted at any time, but they will establish better if planted now or in the autumn. Bare-rooted evergreen hedging should be planted now, and should be watered well over the next three months. Cold winds can burn plants whose root systems have been recently disturbed, and it pays to protect very exposed plants from wind until they are established.

MOVING EVERGREENS
Now is a good time to plant or move evergreens. The weather is warming up a little and root activity has started. New growth hasn’t appeared yet but it won’t be long. Look how long the grass is on your lawn to see that thing are coming on.

Prune the butterfly bush Buddleia davidii hard back to a framework of older wood at 60-120cm. Shoots will already be starting to grow. No matter. Cut hard back to the size you require, even if it leaves the plant entirely leafless. Flowers will be on the ends of this year's growth. Buddleia globosa, which has orange spherical flowers, and the delicate weeping Buddleia alternifolia both flower on old wood, and should be more lightly pruned after flowering in late spring.

BE PATIENT
Be patient still, and wait to prune back grey and tender shrubs damaged by winter cold, such as ceanothus, phlomis, helichrysum, salvia, artemisia, etc. Sage (Salvia officinalis) and many artemisias tend to layer themselves down, producing roots from twigs touching the ground. These can be severed and planted elsewhere next month

Cut out thin and crossing twigs of Spiraea 'Goldflame', and shorten back the main branches, to ensure a more telling flush of coppery spring foliage.

Horticultural.