Monty Don’s four tips on how to keep your favourite plants & trees returning year after year – & what needs pruning now

Gardening expert Monty Don has revealed all the pruning you need to get on top of this month if you want to have healthy plants.

The gardening professional explained that now is the time to take a look at your currants, roses, perennials and fruit trees.

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To his take garden blog Monty Don shared his top summer gardening tips and advice.

Pruning is especially important at this time of year as July is a good month to control early summer shrubs and trees that are prone to bleeding.

So grab your clippers and get to work, but be careful as there are some parts of a plant that you shouldn’t touch if you want a good regrowth.

If you’re behind on gardening chores in June, it’s not too late to get them done now.

If you have apple and pear trees, pruning now will not result in too much active regrowth as might happen during the winter months.

Cutting off 2 to 4 inches of your trees without chopping off the ripening fruit can really help.

Monty said, “Pruning it back now also allows light and air to reach the ripening fruit and you prevent your trees from becoming overly cluttered with unproductive branches.”

Perennials require a strict pruning routine to encourage proper regrowth and flowering.

The plant should be weeded and cut straight to the ground as like most plants this season it needs adequate water and light.

Therefore, make sure you keep a sufficient distance.

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Monty previously explained the importance of recognizing whether a rose is a rambling or climbing rose.

Ramblers tend to be more active and have clusters of small flowers that never bloom again.

Remove any damaged plant parts and old shoots, but some roses can also turn into trees if your garden space allows.

Currants and gooseberries are also harvested in July. You should prune them first.

Cut back the shoots you want to keep by a third and remove new shoots that crowd the center of the plant.

The gardening professional said: “This allows light and air into the plant, which encourages the maturation of the wood and the formation of shoots that will bear next year’s fruit.”

“Blackcurrants can be heavily pruned by removing up to a third of each bush immediately after harvest.”

Now is also the right time for staking – crops that need extra support could face heavy rains and thunderstorms this month.

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