June is the busy pruning month when we’ll be getting rose bushes and deciduous fruit trees back into great shape for another productive year. June is the time for checking pruning equipment, brushing up on pruning techniques, and for introducing young gardeners to the rewarding art of shaping plants. How about showing the kids how they can get involved?
What you need:
- A thick pair of gardening gloves to make it easier to handle and dispose of woody or prickly prunings. Be sure to find a snug fit for small hands.
- A sturdy pair of secateurs. These are available in an array of sizes so again, find a pair that fits well into, and can be used efficiently by, smaller, not-so-strong hands.
What to do:
- Explain why we prune: to stimulate growth; to promote plant health; to improve the look and shape of a plant.
- Ensure youngsters understand to use secateurs with care and under adult supervision, and to store them in a safe, dry place when not in use.
- Provide a soft-wooded, fast-growing plant for enthusiastic kids to practice with. It’s important for beginners to experience pruning as an art that is both rewarding and fun. Rosemary and bay are ideal for beginners to sharpen their skills on, and garden centre staff can recommend other suitable shrubby perennials.
Step-by-step kids fun pruning project:
- First, for reference, take a few ‘before’ photographs of your plant from different angles.
- Visualise the finished shape and size you want the plant to have. Look for damaged or odd-looking branches that spoil its shape.
- Plan to make more, smaller snippings rather than cutting off fewer, larger pieces.
- Make that first cut! Don’t worry; it’s very hard to make a seriously permanent mistake when you’re pruning a plant!
- Stand back, walk around your plant and study the effect of the cut you’ve made. Plan where to cut next. Repeat the process until you’re confident enough to make two or three cuts before stepping back. Step back often – once you’re in the groove it’s harder to stop than it was to make that first cut!
- When you’re satisfied with your work, take a few ‘after’ pictures for your gardening records. Maybe share them on your Pinterest or Facebook pages to encourage friends to get out into the garden too!
- Collect all the prunings and dispose of them in the compost heap or shred them for use as water-wise mulch. Clean your secateurs and pack them away until your next pruning project.
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