Are you pruning early this year?

Gardening
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The temperature this afternoon is due to be 20+ By Wednesday night we’ll be back down at -1 (more normal for February in Lot et Garonne).
I’ve started pruning the roses and the hydrangeas. I’m itching to get my hands on the buddleia, but wonder if it’s too early. What would you do?

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No. We’ve learnt our lesson as there is often a cold snap much later which can kill things.

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I’ve already pruned the hydrangeas back to thickish stems, they had begun to sprawl and look dishevelled. And a buddleia which was encroaching too much on the lawn at its base, making the mower hard to manoeuvre.

I will report back on the result in the Spring, if I haven’t been pruned myself…:grinning:

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Short back and sides Peter :scissors::crazy_face:

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The advice I have been given is to prune roses at the beginning of winter to reduce damage by wind.
Hydrangea flower heads should be left on until after the last frost and should be covered if a frost is expected after new buds have appeared.
Buddleia is indestructible and can be cut down to about 50 cm from now onwards to encourage new shoots.
But this advice applies to UK and Northern France. If you live anywhere else, ask the locals.

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Thanks for the advice. Mike since my roses continue to flower up until Christmas I’d be most reluctant to do any pruning at the beginning of winter. Jane I know what you mean, but this year is so mild, I wonder whether it really will get cold again. You can tell me “I told you so” in a few weeks. :slight_smile:
I think I will do the hydrangeas. They are in pots on the terrace and not exposed. Castelmoron did theirs days ago. And I’ll attack the buddleias - they are such thugs.

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You really need to cut those buddleias right back if you want to see butterflies at eye level. Important if you want to get good photos!

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So pretty, great picture :heart:

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Thanks! But the truth is that I had to take a lot of rubbish pics to get one good one.

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There usually is a cold snap here! The other year it was freezing wind blown snow, caught everyone out, carnage.
Roses and hydrangea can be pruned autumn or spring, it is preference. As a gardener I always check with the owner. Wind rock or continued flowering are factors as mentioned. The buds on the hydrangea may be at risk from autumn cutback unless they have some shelter.
Buddleia grows like a weed, it loves being cut back, I used to work on housing estates where the builders had planted it everywhere without thought, and it blocked paths and windows, cut it to almost nothing and it is back with reinforcements very rapidly.
I have a few acres of bramble to prune this week, anyone want to help?

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Don’t let yourself be hoodwinked, Sue. It’s a sure bet there will be a sharp frost before the end of February.

Here in Basse Normandie the ‘window of opportunity’ for Jack Frost’s last painful pinch is 11-23 février. Usually preceded by a week or so of deceptive balmy days and nights.

Of course, frost depends a lot on the local topography. Some gardens round here are in frost bowls, others seem immune.

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It is only afterwards that you notice the tattered wings and realize how hard life is for these fragile creatures.

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Here people stick to nothing being safe before les saints de glace (11|13 may) and so far they are right…

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That’s normal for me, still waiting to get the shot. :smile:

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I cut everything back in Oct/ nov for me and clients and I see that some of the roses are actually flowering,
Primroses and the dwarf daffodils are flowering in my garden too.
Global warming again, hot summers and very wet mind winters.

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Thanks for the extra thoughts everyone. Bumble and carpenter bees have been going crazy in the hyacinths - almost like they are drunk!

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Yeah, buddleia is pretty much indestructible here in the Auvergne too :wink:

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We’ve a winter-flowering clematis… which is buzzing like mad :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Somebody asked me how to propagate it. Just stick a branch in the ground and stand back!

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Our little piece of Basse Normandie must be a frost pocket. I was caught out as late as June 1st one year!
But everything has gone crazy, and today the grass is growing fast in the waterlogged ground and it could be a long time before it is possible to put a mower on it.

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