Pruning Done Right
Pruning Services Belfast
Pruning at the wrong time removes next year's flowers, and cutting in the wrong place leaves a stub that rots. CSW prunes Belfast gardens with both in mind.
Where You Cut, And When
Pruning goes wrong in two distinct ways and they have nothing to do with each other. The first is timing: cut a shrub that flowers on last year's wood in the wrong month and you have neatly removed all of next spring's flowers. It will look tidy and it will not flower, and nobody will connect the two events eight months apart.
The second is placement. A cut made in the wrong position, part way along a stem with nothing below it, leaves a stub that dies back and often rots inward from the wound. Cuts made just above a bud or back to a branch junction heal and regrow. That is not a refinement, it is the difference between pruning and shortening, and most of what gets done to garden shrubs is shortening.
We prune shrubs, small trees, climbers and fruit, and we do the seasonal reductions and shaping that keep a garden from closing in on itself. Where a tree is genuinely large, or near a building or a power line, that is a job for a tree surgeon with the right equipment and we will tell you so rather than take it on.
Shrubs And Climbers
Ornamental shrubs, roses, hydrangeas, climbers and wall plants pruned in the season that suits the species, cut back to a bud or a junction rather than shortened arbitrarily.
Small Trees And Reductions
Crown lifting to get light and headroom back, thinning to open a canopy, and taking dead or crossing wood out. Within sensible limits of size and safety.
Fruit And Overgrown Rescue
Apple and pear pruning for shape and cropping, and staged renovation of shrubs that have been left long enough that one hard cut would kill them.
Why CSW For Pruning
Right Season, Not Convenient Season
If pruning now would cost you next year's flowers we will tell you and come back at the right time instead.
Cuts In The Right Place
Back to a bud or a branch junction so the wound heals and regrows, rather than a stub that dies back into the plant.
We Know When To Stage It
A badly overgrown shrub taken back hard in one go often dies. Staged over two or three seasons it recovers properly.
Nesting Season Respected
Heavier work planned outside 1 March to 31 August, and if we find an active nest mid job that section waits.
We Say What We Cannot Do
Large trees, anything near power lines and anything needing climbing kit is a tree surgeon's job. We will point you elsewhere rather than improvise.
Everything Cleared
Arisings collected and taken away, beds raked out and paths swept. Pruning generates a surprising amount of material.
Timing, Wildlife And Trees That Are Protected
Pruning is one of the few garden jobs where the legal position genuinely changes what month the work can happen. This is general guidance and your district council is the authority on protected trees and on any hedge complaint.
The Nesting Season Governs The Diary
The Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 makes it an offence to disturb a wild bird while it is building a nest, or while it is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young. The nesting season is taken as 1 March to 31 August, and under DAERA's cross compliance rules hedge, tree and scrub cutting is not carried out during it. There is a narrow exception for roadside hedges where there is a clear health and safety issue.
Dense evergreen shrubs and climbers against a house wall are exactly where blackbirds, wrens and dunnocks nest in a Belfast garden. That is not a remote possibility, it is the normal situation, and it is why any substantial reduction is planned for autumn or winter.
- Substantial pruning and reductions are a September to February job.
- Light summer work on species that need it is done after checking section by section for active nests.
- If we find a nest, that section waits until it is empty. There is no way round it and we will tell you rather than proceed.
Hedges, Neighbours And The Two Metre Floor
Pruning work often runs alongside a hedge dispute, so it is worth knowing the position. Under the High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 your district council can adjudicate a complaint about a high hedge, defined as a barrier to light formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens.
A council remedial notice cannot require the hedge to be reduced to less than two metres above ground level, and it cannot require removal. The complaint route is also a last resort, and you must be able to show the council you tried to resolve it with the hedge owner first.
- The council charges a fee up to a maximum of £360, refunded where the complaint is upheld and remedial action follows.
- A single tree is not a high hedge for these purposes, however much shade it casts.
- Overhanging branches from a neighbour's plant are a separate common law question and are not covered by the Act.
Protected Trees And Conservation Areas
Some trees are protected and cutting them without consent is an offence. Trees can be individually protected, and trees within a conservation area generally have protection as well. Your district council holds that information and it is a straightforward thing to check before work starts.
Separately, permitted development rights for a dwellinghouse come from the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and are decided by your district council, and an Article 4 direction removes them in specific areas. Belfast City Council has made Article 4 directions, Malone Park being a published example.
- Check with the council before pruning a mature tree in a conservation area.
- Protection generally applies to pruning as well as felling, not just to removal.
- Where a tree is protected, consent is a process rather than a formality, so allow time for it.
Pruning By Type
Spring Flowering Versus Summer Flowering
This is the distinction that decides most timing questions. Shrubs that flower in spring, forsythia, ribes, philadelphus and the like, do it on wood grown the previous year, so they are pruned straight after flowering. Prune them in winter and you cut off the flowers before they open.
Shrubs that flower later in summer on the current year's growth are pruned in late winter or early spring, which gives them the whole season to make new wood and flower on it. Getting these two the wrong way round is by far the commonest pruning mistake in a domestic garden.
Where The Cut Goes
A cut made just above an outward facing bud, or back to a branch junction, heals cleanly and the plant regrows from that point in the direction you have chosen. A cut made part way along a stem with nothing below it leaves a stub that dies back, and dieback frequently continues into healthy wood.
This is why pruning and shortening are different activities even though they look similar for the first week. Shortening a shrub with shears produces a dense outer shell of growth and a dead, twiggy, light starved interior within a few seasons.
Renovating Something Badly Overgrown
Some species take a hard renovation cut and come back strongly. Others do not regrow from old wood at all, and cutting hard into it kills the plant outright. Getting that wrong is not recoverable.
Where a plant will not take it in one go, the answer is staged renovation over two or three seasons, taking out a proportion of the oldest wood each year. It is slower and the plant survives, which is the point. We will say which approach your shrub needs before starting.
Fruit, Roses And Wall Plants
Apples and pears are pruned in winter for shape and structure, opening the centre so light and air reach the fruiting wood. It is the difference between a tree that crops and a congested one that produces small fruit high up where nobody can reach it.
Roses want dead, diseased and crossing wood out and an open centre. Climbers and wall plants need tying in as much as cutting, because a climber that has come away from its supports will tear itself off a wall in the first real Belfast gale.
How A Pruning Visit Works
Identify What Is There
Species matters more than anything else in pruning, because it determines both the season and how hard the plant can be cut. We look before we cut.
Agree Timing
If pruning now would remove next year's flowers, or falls inside the nesting season for heavier work, we will say so and book it for when it should happen.
Check For Protection
Mature trees in a conservation area or with individual protection need consent before pruning, and that is a call to the council rather than an assumption.
Check For Nests
Section by section on anything dense, particularly evergreens and climbers against a wall, before the work starts and as it progresses.
Cut To A Point
Back to a bud or a branch junction, opening congested centres, removing dead, diseased and crossing wood, and shaping rather than shearing.
Clear And Advise
Arisings taken away, beds raked and paths swept, and a straight word on when the plant should next be done and what to expect from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should shrubs be pruned?
It depends entirely on when they flower. Spring flowering shrubs bloom on wood grown the previous year, so they are pruned straight after flowering. Summer flowering shrubs bloom on the current year's growth and are pruned in late winter or early spring. Getting these the wrong way round is the commonest pruning mistake in a domestic garden.
Why did my shrub not flower after being pruned?
Almost certainly because it was pruned at the wrong time and the flower buds were removed before they opened. It looked tidy and then produced nothing eight months later, so most people never connect the two. Knowing which group a plant is in before cutting is most of what pruning knowledge actually is.
Can you prune in summer?
Light work on species that need it, yes, after checking for active nests section by section. Substantial reductions are planned for September to February, because the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 makes it an offence to disturb a wild bird in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young, and the nesting season runs 1 March to 31 August.
What is wrong with just cutting everything back with shears?
It produces a dense outer shell of growth over a dead, twiggy, light starved interior within a few seasons. Cuts made part way along a stem with nothing below leave stubs that die back into healthy wood. Pruning cuts go just above a bud or back to a branch junction so the wound heals and regrows.
My shrub is completely overgrown. Can it be cut right back?
Depends on the species, and getting it wrong is not recoverable. Some plants take a hard renovation cut and come back strongly. Others do not regrow from old wood at all and cutting into it kills them. Where that is the case, staged renovation over two or three seasons is the answer.
Do you do large trees?
No, and we will say so rather than improvise. Anything large, anything requiring climbing equipment and anything near a building or a power line is a job for a tree surgeon with the right kit and insurance. We handle shrubs, small trees, crown lifting and thinning within sensible limits of size and safety.
Can I prune a tree in a conservation area?
Check with your district council first. Trees can be individually protected, and trees within a conservation area generally have protection too. That protection typically applies to pruning as well as felling, not just to removal, and consent is a process rather than a formality, so it is worth allowing time for it.
When should apple trees be pruned?
In winter, for shape and structure, opening the centre so light and air can reach the fruiting wood. That is the difference between a tree that crops well within reach and a congested one producing small fruit high up. A neglected apple tree usually wants restoring over a couple of seasons rather than in one go.
What about a climber that has come off the wall?
It needs tying back in as much as cutting. A climber that has detached from its supports acts as a sail and will tear itself off the wall in the first real Belfast gale, often taking render or fixings with it. Retying and reducing the weight is usually more urgent than shaping it.
My neighbour's shrubs overhang my garden. What can I do?
Overhanging branches are a common law question rather than a matter for the High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, which only covers a barrier to light formed by a line of two or more evergreens. Speaking to the neighbour first is both the practical and the required route if a council complaint ever follows.
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Send us a photo or ask us to call out. Knowing what the plants actually are settles both what they need and what month it should happen in, which is most of the answer. No charge for the visit.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland