Monty Don reveals a plant that needs pruning NOW to prevent it from breaking down in winter

MONTY Don has urged gardeners to prune a popular plant in October to prevent it being damaged over winter.

Summer may be over, but there are still plenty of chores that gardeners can tackle to protect their gardens from the harsh winter weather ahead.

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Gardening legend Monty, 68, shared the important update on his with his fans gardening blog.

Urging fans to tackle a big task, he said: “Pruning climbing roses.

“Climbing roses bloom on shoots that have grown in the same spring, so they can now be pruned hard.”

Pruning is essential to ensure that roses bloom next year, as it removes dead and dying branches and makes way for new growth in the spring

To prune your roses, simply cut back the old branches in winter.

Monty advised: “Always use very sharp tools for pruning.

“It not only makes life much easier, but also provides much cleaner cuts and therefore causes less damage to the plant. Sharp tools are also much safer.”

“Always use a tool that works within its capacity, so never overload it.

“Use loppers for stems that are too thick to easily cut with pruning shears and a sharp saw for anything that will strain the loppers.”

The first thing to do when pruning climbing roses is to remove any damage.

The Gardener’s World presenter explained: “Start by removing damaged or crossing vegetation or very old wood that can be pruned to the ground.

“The main stems should be fanned out at equal distances as horizontally as possible and tied to wires or a trellis.

“Then any side shoots growing from these main stems – which produced this year’s flowers – can be cut back to a short stump of a few leaves.”

Garden work in October

Veronica Lorraine, garden editor for The Sun, has shared the jobs you need to tackle this October.

“It’s a good time to prune deciduous hedges – such as boxwood, yew, hawthorn, hornbeam and beech – and hedge trimmers are a great upper body workout!

Make leaf mold – collect all fallen leaves and fill garbage bags or plastic carrier bags. Seal the top, poke a few small holes in the bag and store for a year or more. Free compost!

You’re unlikely to get any more red tomatoes, so harvest one more time and throw the plants into the compost. See if you can ripen the green ones by putting a drawer in them (some say with a banana). Save the seeds from a few too – and plant them again next year if they have gone well.

Finish bringing in your spring bulbs. Ideally you would have planted daffodils and alliums, but tulips are better in the open ground when the soil temperature becomes a bit colder.

It is good to leave some plant waste in the ground; this adds nutrients as it rots, providing shelter and food for insects. But remove the dingy brown bits that are collapsing all over the lawn/winter structure.

Mulch – it not only suppresses weeds, but also keeps the soil warm, improves water retention and adds a little winter comfort to your outdoor space.

October is a good month for carrots, peas, asparagus, broad beans and rhubarb.”

When pruning roses, it is important that you cut just above the bud, which points in the direction you want the rose to grow.

Monty added: “The effect should be a tracery of largely horizontal growth with pruned side shoots running along its length.

“Finally, make sure everything is securely fastened to prevent winter damage.”

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