Plants you should never prune in October - or risk 'sabotaging' them

Gardeners are often advised to prune their plants in order to keep them healthy and looking good - but there are certain plants that should be left alone in October

Pruning is essential for removing dead, diseased and damaged stems and branches to boost a plant's health and maintain its appearance.

It's not just about health; it also keeps plants looking their best. Timing your pruning is key – get it wrong, and you could end up with a garden lacking blooms. Different plants require trimming at various times, but some should be left alone during certain seasons. For instance, rhododendrons, lilacs and some rose varieties need careful timing. Rhododendrons and azaleas shouldn't be pruned at the end of summer or beginning of autumn because they're setting buds for next year's flowers.

GreenPal's CEO Brian Clayton warns: "If you snip away in October, you're essentially bidding goodbye to the upcoming spring's vibrant bloom fest." When it comes to lilacs, pruning them now means risking the loss of next year's flower buds. The optimal time to prune these spring-flowering shrubs is after they've bloomed in late spring or early summer, reports the Express.

Brian points out that pruning dogwoods and lilacs now is like "sabotaging next spring's flower show". As for roses, while deadheading and pruning climbers is fine in October, other varieties should be left as they are.

Gardening expert Monty Don has shared his top tips for pruning climbing roses in October, highlighting its importance for enhancing your garden's appearance. In a recent blog post, Monty advised: "Rambling roses on the other hand produce their flowers on shoots grown on the previous summer so should only be pruned immediately after flowering.

"Start by removing any damaged or crossing growth or any very old wood which can be pruned right back to the ground. The main stems should be fanned out at an equidistance as horizontally as possible, tying them to wires or a trellis.

"Then all the side shoots growing from these main stems, which produced this year's flowers, can be reduced to a short stub of a couple of leaves."