Wisteria needs regular pruning to keep the growth and size under control, but it will also improve the flowering display.

Wisteria is pruned twice a year, in July/August, then again in January/February.

Summer Pruning:

Cut back the whippy green shoots of the current year’s growth to five or six leaves after flowering in July/August. This controls the size of the wisteria, as it can tend to get a bit out of control and encourages it to form flower buds rather than green growth.

Winter Pruning:

Then, cut back the same growths to two or three buds in January or February (when dormant and leafless) to tidy it up before the growing seasons starts.

That’s Shallot

Autumn sown onions and shallots should soon be ready for harvest. Before doing this, bend the tops over to prevent seeding and to allow for maximum sunlight on the onions themselves.

After lifting, spread out to dry if the weather is sunny to ripen further or move under cover. Either way make sure they are dried completely (3-4 weeks) and remove any that are developing diseases before storing in trays with slatted bases for good air circulation or the more traditional way of roping together. They should keep well for several months.

Thinning & Pruning

Apples & Pears need thinning if you have heavy crops to improve fruit size and quality. Thinning allows sunlight and air in; prevents the risk of branches breaking under the strain of heavy fruits and lessens the demand on the tree’s resources. The tree may naturally drop some fruit in June called the Junedrop, then in July/August you will need to remove misshaped, blemished or poorly positioned fruit leaving just one or two fruits developing about 10-15cm apart along the stems.

Cherries fruit on one-year-old and older wood, so pruning needs to be done to encourage a balance of older fruiting wood and younger replacement branches. This should be done in the summer to minimise the risk of infection of silver leaf or canker. Remove any crossing, weak, diseased branches.

Shorten strong side shoots by half, pruning to an outward-facing bud to develop an open crown.