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Posted by helena handcart (U14258601) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
I have a rather overgrown jasmine and this year it has bloomed nicely but it in danger of attacking my neighbour's extension.
Can I prune it within inches of it's life? By that I mean can I cut it back to the woody bit that doesn't have any side branches?
I have done that with buddleia and it worked OK.
Next year's flowering is not an issue - I'm more concerned about my neighbour's flat roof and fence.
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by grumpykewwoman (U11102344) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
We have pruned ours back very hard in previous years and it has come back beautifully. Good luck!
, in reply to message 2.
Posted by helena handcart (U14258601) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
Oh thank you grumpykewwoman.
What a quick reply.
I've been hacking away today and decided to just take a chance with pruning sage and rosemary very hard despite one sprig of rosemary having one little flower on it. I took lots of cuttings earlier in the summer, and have one cutting from the jasmine from last year.
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by helena handcart (U14258601) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
Right, the fruit trees. The pear tree has rust on the leaves. I think. It is a rust coloured spot on the leaf, but with a strange thing growing on the underside of the leaf. I've been pulling the affected leaves off.
Is it safe for me to prune the tree after the harvest. Again I am happy to not have a crop next year, although this year's blossom was absolutely delightful. The fruit this year has made the tree very misshaped.
I also have a medlar tree in the wrong place. It is lovely so I would like to either move it or prune it and train it.
I have pruned my jasmine hard for many years, and so have all the people who are lucky enough to have had the oportunity to live next door to it. It thrives. The only problem is that it seems to flower on old growth, so I leave some of the long stuff so I can open my kitchen door on summer evenings and pretend I am in Greece....
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by grumpykewwoman (U11102344) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
Helena, will try and come back to you tomorrow re pear tree(we have one aged about 110 years). We are no great gardeners and I'm very much "try it and see" person but I ain't killed anything yet.
, in reply to message 5.
Posted by carrick-bend (U2288869) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:59 GMT, in reply to Vicky S in message 5
Helena, there's a monthly gardening thread in TVH where you'll get good advice from even more people.
you could re-post your second query and get even more responses.
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by Nomadnomore - XNo - Quiz Queen (U3180380) on Tuesday, 21st September 2010
Hi Helinahandcart, Carrick is correct, you would be very welcome in the potting shed.
Yes you can prund jasmine and buddliea hard. Most buddlieas should be pruned down to a foot above ground in February (or a foot underground would be my preference, it's not a shrub I am keen on).
I'm not sure your Rosemary will thank you for the hard pruning. It is a lavendar and they really object to being pruned back to old wood.
, in reply to message 8.
Posted by SmoctusMole (U13882662) on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010
helena handcart
I prune my jasmine, which covers three panels of fencing, right back to the old wood each year but earlier in its life I always kept some new growth to tie in. It now covers such a large area that I'm tough with it and it doesn't seem to mind.
Sorry, I don't have much knowledge of pruning fruit trees, but /do/ know that you should aim for a sort of open /well/ in the middle of the tree. This is to allow wind and insects to circulate freely. Oh, and this is certainly the time of year to be pruning trees when the sap is descending.
rosemary doesnt really like a hard prune, but sage IME will laugh in your face, redouble its efforts and grow back bigger if you prune it hard. Grows well from cuttings too.
, in reply to message 10.
Posted by SmoctusMole (U13882662) on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010
Oh goodness, I've just read you have a medlar you lucky thing you! I /really/ don't think you should try and move it but some careful pruning should be OK. Couldn't you just learn to love it where it is, and perhaps train a clematis up it?
As others have indicated, say goodbye to your rosemary!
And if yer sage doesn't recover, mine's self-seeding all over the place, so I could send you a plant.
It does do very well after being cut back, I agree - and I also agree about lavender and rosemary not wanting to be cut back too much into old wood. Give them a good haircut by all means, (otherwise, they'll just get straggly and woody anyway,) but leave some of this year's growth.
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by helena handcart (U14258601) on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010
The rosemary will live but it is very woody at the base. I have taken lots of cuttings a while ago and the sage has established.
The medlar is glorious in autumn, it has a lovely shape and this year lots of fruit, but it's already about 2 metres wide and my garden's not big enough unless I can keep it under control.
I bought it about 5 yrs ago from the Daily T*graph and it wasn't terribly expensive.
, in reply to message 13.
Posted by helena handcart (U14258601) on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010
I spent much of today in the garden, such good weather. I did a lot of pruning trained shrubs to sort of open them up. The garden seems to look much better.
Forgot to say earlier that the medlar tree is a bit wider than it is tall, and has a very nice shape naturally.
The French for medlar is "cul de singe".
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