A spring mistake we see every year: cutting everything back too early.
We understand the urge. After months of winter, the first mild day feels like a green light to tidy up. Clear the dead growth, cut back the perennials, rake everything out.
But here's why that's often a mistake in Surrey:
Those dead-looking stems and leaves are insulating the crown of the plant, protecting new growth forming underneath. Remove that protection too early and you're exposing tender shoots to late frosts — which in Surrey can happen well into April.
What we recommend instead:
Late February to mid-March — Cut back ornamental grasses. They can handle it and the old growth gets messy fast.
Mid-March — Start cutting back perennials, but only once you see new growth at the base. No shoots visible? The plant isn't ready.
Late March to April — Prune summer-flowering shrubs (buddleia, some hydrangeas, lavatera). These flower on new wood, so pruning now encourages growth.
Leave alone until after flowering — Spring-flowering plants (forsythia, early clematis, spring-flowering spirea). Prune after they flower, not before.
The principle: follow the plant's lead, not the calendar. When it starts growing, it's ready.
📍 Surrey
#springgardening #pruning #surreygardens #montroselandscapes #gardenadvice
