The wood that carries next year's flower decides the date, and that is a different date for a rambler, a repeat-flowering rose and a spring shrub.
the north-west date, where the south prunes in February
they flower once, on wood made the previous year
they flower at the ends of the current season's growth
a mixed border rarely has every plant due in the same month
taking it out removes nothing that was going to flower
pruning worked for a crop runs on a different calendar
Shrub and rose pruning is ornamental pruning: roses and garden shrubs cut for shape and for flower, each one in the month its own flowering wood allows. It takes out dead, damaged and crossing wood, opens the middle of the plant, and leaves standing the growth that will carry next season’s flowers. The prunings are raked off and removed.
Against a general tidy
A tidy cut taken over a whole border in one pass is neat the same afternoon and costs the flower on whatever was out of season. Pruning by flowering habit means each plant is cut in its own month, so nothing is traded for the look of the day.
Against leaving it
Left alone, a repeat-flowering rose keeps its old wood and makes less new wood, so it gets taller, thinner at the top and barer at the bottom. Pruning is what keeps the flowers at eye level instead of above the fence line.
Against secateurs and a Saturday
Anyone can take out dead, damaged and crossing wood in any month, because none of it was going to flower. What is worth paying for is knowing which of the plants left standing is due this month, and which one loses a year if it is touched.
Dense shrubs are exactly the habitat birds nest in, and the offence attaches to a nest in use or being built rather than to a date in the year. We check the plant immediately before cutting into it, in any month, and work in sections so there is somewhere to stop. Where there is a nest in it, that plant waits.
Aughton and the older Ormskirk roads run to generous plots with mature shrub borders, and the Skelmersdale estates were planted in one decade from one municipal palette, so whole streets reach the same overgrown condition together. Frost decides the dates. This is flat, drained, open country, so on a clear still night cold air pools on the mossland flats around Tarleton and Hesketh Bank while the ridge at Ormskirk and Aughton stays clear, and the round starts at the ridge end.
It sits alongside the rest of our garden services in Ormskirk, and is often booked with regular garden maintenance. The ground changes across the patch — see Ormskirk.
Not by name. The diagnostic is flowering behaviour — a climber repeat-flowers all summer, a rambler flowers once around June — and it is what decides the month each plant is cut.
We walk the border with you and separate the plants that can be cut today from the ones that would lose a season, so you know what you are paying for on this visit.
We look into the growth before cutting into it, and work a plant in parts rather than in one go, so the work can stop where it needs to.
Before every cut
Each plant to its own habit, plus dead, damaged and crossing wood taken out of anything in the border, which costs no flower whenever it is done.
The prunings are cleared and taken away, and you get the months the rest of the border is due, written down rather than remembered.
How it is priced
By the number of plants and their size, how far past their last cut they have gone, how many separate visits the border's own months actually require, and access for getting the prunings out. The season moves it as well, because growing-season arisings are bulkier than dormant wood and disposal is charged by volume. The price you get is the one on your written quote, after we have seen the border.
The expensive one
A rambler flowers once, on wood grown the previous year. Cut it in late winter with the repeat-flowering roses and its entire flowering wood has gone. It will not flower that year, and nothing can be done about it until the one after.
The autumn tidy
Spring shrubs set the buds for April on the growth they made over the summer. A tidy-up cut in autumn takes those buds off, which is why the shrub that was cut back neatly is the one that does nothing the following spring.
One pass, one day
It is the convenient way to work and it is why borders stop flowering. A border cut when the visit happens rather than when each plant is ready buys a tidy afternoon with flower the owner will not miss until the following season.
Not looking first
A mature shrub is a nest site, and the growth is dense enough that a nest is not visible from outside it. The check takes a minute before the first cut and there is no month of the year in which it can be skipped.
This is the general position, not a decision about your property. We confirm it with the authority named above before we quote.
Dan came and did a day clear up on our garden, he then scarified, fed and seeded our lawn. We then booked him to come back, put down sacking, edging and stones. Dan works hard from start to finish and leaves your garden clean and tidy, taking away debris. My daughter is getting married on Monday so we are having a garden party, we are now party ready! Thank you 😊
Dan was very reliable , efficient and got the job done to a high standard. We are very pleased with our garden.
Highly recommend, pays great attention to detail, with excellent knowledge and skill. Very reliable and will give you a bespoke service tailored to your needs.
Dan was fantastic! My garden was in a bad way and now it looks incredible! Can’t believe how quick he was and what a fab job he’s done, also very reasonable price considering what he was faced with. Would 10/10 recommend.
Booked in with Hardman Horticulture to get on top of a garden that had been somewhat neglected for many months - Dan was able to communicate effectively around availability, provided a fair quote for the work, and turned up when they said they would. Very pleased with the results of the initial visit and have communicated intention to re-book for further garden work. Highly recommend!
Very good at maintaining my gardens and reliable
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