Make a clean pruning cut and choose what to remove

When to do it

At the species’ appropriate pruning stage; remove immediate hazards safely and seek diagnosis for disease.

What you need

• Clean sharp hand secateurs
• Plant-specific pruning instructions
• Gloves

How to do it

1. Identify the plant and its flowering or fruiting wood before cutting. Mark dead, broken or rubbing small stems; uncertain fruiting wood can wait.
2. Use secateurs only within their cutting capacity. Position the sharp blade on the retained side and keep fingers away from the cut.
3. For shortening a small shoot, cut just above an appropriate healthy bud without leaving a long stub or slicing the bud. For removing a branch, preserve the collar rather than cutting flush into the trunk.
4. Remove damaged growth back to sound tissue where appropriate. Disease may require a different margin, timing or disposal method, so check the diagnosis.
5. Clean contaminated tools before the next plant and review the plant’s shape before making further cuts. Leave large, high or tensioned branches to a competent professional.

What success looks like

• Cuts are clean and the retained buds and branch collar are intact.

Watch out for

• Pruning all fruit species in winter by default.
• Removing all new canes from a plant that fruits on them next year.

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