In the garden this week: Summer pruning and preening

Size matters Winter may be the classic pruning time to get fruit trees into shape, but you should consider summer pruning if size is the problem. Lopping off leaves reduces the ability to photosynthesise and curtails the growth of outsized brutes. Also for the summer chop are plums (vulnerable to infection if pruned in winter) and any trained trees – espaliers, fans and stopovers – which must be kept snipped back to the framework. Stop them seeding All your annual bedding plants want to do at this time of year is reproduce, so for maximum blooms, curtail those urges. Annuals grow, flower and set seed all in one year, and so seed production means the end of flowers. Pulling off the faded flowers as you spot them is fine, but also get up close with a pair of scissors and do a proper preen. Cutting into the growth a little while you're there is also a good plan, to encourage new, bushier growth.