pruning damaged plants in wet conditions?
nadiamaz
Posts: 35
Would you advise pruning damaged plants in wet conditions? My problem is that as most of the country, all living in my garden suffered from the past few days with continuous gale force winds and pouring rain (Lancs). Some branches of my young trees (all 2-5 years old) have been broken, other not broken but looking poorly, turned upside-down. Vegs, flowers and all the rest too suffered. Now, my question is: should I prune the damaged bits now, despite the still wet soil and plants? or should I rather wait and see if and which parts of a plant recover on their own before going ahead with the big means? If I should prune now, how far back for apple, pear, plum, cherry and soft fruit (blueberries, red and black currants, raspberries)? and what about beans and peas? Thanks for any piece of advice!
Posts
I would be inclined to cut out badly damaged branches now on the fruit trees and bushes-as regards the peas and beans just provide some sort of support but also remove any damaged stems.
I would try and hold back on the plums and cherries until you have a dry day, as there is a risk of fungus getting in. If things are broken you have no choice, though - leaving broken branches in place serves no purpose. To cover all options, when it finally is dry and sunny, trim a little extra off the plums and cherries that you've had to prune. That way, if any fungus has got in, you'll remove it before it does any harm.
Alot of my soft fruit - blueberries, red, white and black currants, gooseberries and tall growing veg like pea's were were damaged with the wind over the last few days, beans were blown off their supports. Foilage on my potato plants has also been snapped off too.
I'm in Lancahire and have removed all damaged stems. On the fruit bushes I've cut the damaged stems back to just above a healthy leaf mode. If you cut the branch diagonally any future rain fall should run off the open branch.