Garden Plants

60-second guide: renovation pruning

By Julie Hollobone

Renovation pruning: what is it, why do it – and when?

‘Identify the oldest or most awkwardly placed stems that make up to a third of the total growth, and cut these down to ground level or back to the main stem.’

Every so often older plants can benefit from renovation by cutting back harder to encourage a new framework of replacement stems.

When to do it

You can carry out renovation pruning either in spring or winter to reduce, replace and invigorate an old, overgrown or congested shrub by encouraging new stems to grow, which you manage subsequently by routine pruning.

Which plants?

Removing congested stems from a
flowering quince (Chaenomeles) with
long-handled loppers

It suits deciduous shrubs and many evergreens, such as cherry laurel, although some slow-growing types react better to staged pruning over a few years.

How to prune

Identify the oldest or most awkwardly placed stems that make up to a third of the total growth, and cut these down to ground level or back to the main stem. You can then reduce the finer top growth slightly and tidy it up.

Repeat the process the following year, and by the third or fourth year, all the original stems will have been replaced by more vigorous growth that you can prune routinely. Feed water and mulch after pruning to encourage new growth.

Remove congested stems from a flowering quince (Chaenomeles) with long-handled loppers. Loppers will cut stems of about 3cm (1in) in diameter so are good for thicker stems, although not so good for accessing the centre of a congested shrub.

General pruning

Long-standing plants, like shrubs and evergreens, form the backbone of the garden and can look great for several years. Many can be left alone, but others require routine pruning, ideally every year, to be kept healthy and within bounds.

* Adapted by Sarah Brocklehurst

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