Monty Don makes appearance on BBC's Morning Live
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Monty Don joined BBC’s Morning Live show this morning for his new series Adriatic Gardens, where gardening fans will get a chance to see the horticulturist visit stunning landscapes across Europe. The Gardeners’ World host has now shared gardening jobs to do in January, specifically pruning.
Monty has shared some jobs Britons can be getting on with in their gardens this month.
He explained how January is a “brilliant” month to prune.
Monty said: “Certainly this month is a brilliant month for pruning.
“So If you’ve got an apple tree, a pear tree, roses, now is a good time to prune.
“Don’t be frightened, just cut away.”
Monty explained when to prune for the best results.
He said: “Remember what you cut now will produce vigorous growth as a result.
“If you’re trying to make something smaller you prune it in summer and if you want to make it healthier and more vigorous you prune it now.”
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Monty has also explained the importance of winter pruning of fruit trees in his latest blog post.
He said: “This is always my big January job and if nothing else this is something I like to have finished by the end of the month. Try to understand how something grows before pruning.
“Does it flower on new or old wood? Does it grow new shoots in a great post flowering burst or do they steadily emerge over the season? Does a fruit tree need to achieve a certain maturity to create spurs that bear fruit or will they be produced in the first year of growth? Does the plant heal well or is it, like cherries and plums, a bleeder – and if so when does it produce least sap?
Monty stressed how it is important to prune only when you are sure of how to do it.
He said: “If in doubt about any of this – don’t cut. Wait. You will never do harm by not pruning and patience in a garden is a great virtue.
“If you prune an apple tree hard each winter it will make a mass of new growth but no flowers – and therefore no fruit.”
To receive the most fruit, it is best to lay off from pruning too much.
Monty added: “This cycle is often perpetuated by even harder pruning the following year – to get rid of all that new, fruitless growth, which, having lots of lovely succulent sap, will attract aphids and fungal disease.
“Through overzealous and mistimed pruning people often ruin their fruit trees.
“If you wish to curtail growth you leave the pruning to summer – July is ideal – when the foliage is fully grown and before the roots start to store food for winter.
“Do not prune plums, apricots, peaches or cherries (these should be pruned in late Spring and only if absolutely necessary).”
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