Frances Tophill's guide to May pruning

People often talk about the ‘May gap’, when spring plants begin to fade and the burgeoning summer growth is yet to appear. Though if, like me, you allow a little room for some wildness, May can be one of the most abundant months, with cow parsley, bluebells, hawthorn blossom, foxgloves and columbine alongside cultivated Solomon’s seal and the first hardy geraniums and delphiniums in your borders. For me, the impact of this is breathtaking: soft, green and zinging.

When the days are consistently warm, and the nights are warmer too, you can safely start to unwrap tender plants like tree ferns and bananas. Any damaged, rotting or slightly frost-damaged limbs and segments should be removed, clearing the way for a flush of new growth.

This is also classic ‘Chelsea chop’ season, which involves removing roughly a third of this year’s green growth from clumps of late-summer border perennials, to delay or extend their flowering period.

The shaggy growth of evergreen hedging like box, privet and euonymous can safely be trimmed, while frost-tender shrubs can be pruned with less risk of dieback.

• How to prune an evergreen hedge

• Arit Anderson’s guide to May pruning
• Monty’s May pruning clips
• Pruning mistakes to avoid

This is a month to prune back plants that flowered earlier in the spring and to keep things neat so that summer growth doesn’t get out of hand, or feel overwhelming.

Prune Chaenomeles now, to encourage flowers next spring and avoid a sprawling specimen.

Cut back Prunus laurocerasus with hand shears or secateurs to avoid slicing through leaves – it’s worth the effort, as damaged foliage will go brown.

Neaten up