Jessica It’s time for Spring, meaning no matter whether you watch it on the television, or you read it in a book or you pick it up from one of your gardening friends or mentors they will all tell you the same thing. There is a best and there is a worst time to do gardening. They will cite growth times, reproductive cycles, the activity of pollinating insects all as reasons why you should be gardening predominantly in the spring time. And as for winter? Well they will warn you off, tell you tales of frostbite, of dead insects and root systems that retreat from fear of the cold.
But what of the Spring? Should we be out there, sweating and working in the boiling sunshine when we could be relaxing and enjoying all the work we put in in the spring? There is no simple answer. Instead you will have to trust your instincts and know your plants. If you’ve cut back enough in spring there is no issue, if you have left it late then cutting and pruning might be essential, as will hefty watering to compensate for the lack of moisture from the leaves you are removing.