Gardeners warned that now is the last chance to prune trees

Garden experts are warning that now is your last chance to prune trees in your garden – or risk an unlimited fine.

Pruning is an essential gardening job, and is key to ensuring healthy growth for your plants. However, knowing when not to prune trees is equally important as knowing how to prune trees.

With nesting season about to begin on 1 March, and trees coming out of dormancy, leaving your pruning any later is a bad idea, with increased risk to your trees’ health and local bird populations. This is everything you need to know.

Nesting season:

There are two reasons why now is your last chance to prune the trees in your garden, and the first is that nesting season for the UK’s bird population is about to begin. This also means now is your last chance to prune hedgerows, too.

‘Pruning trees during nesting season isn’t illegal itself, but disturbing nesting birds is illegal under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. If you are found to have disturbed nesting birds, it can lead to unlimited fines and a prison sentence of up to six months,’ explains Dean Meadows, principal arboriculturist and tree risk management lead at Arbtech.

Nesting season is between 1 March and 31 August in the UK, and during this time you must avoid any garden work that can disturb nesting birds and their young. As Dean explains, pruning itself isn’t illegal, so you can carry out light pruning, but with extra caution.

‘Always carry out thorough inspections before doing any trimming to make sure there are no nesting birds. It’s best to check very early in the morning, from pre-dawn to around one to two hours after dawn, as this is when bird activity is highest,’ says Dean.

‘Signs to look out for are calls, territorial behaviour, back-and-forth flights to the same spot, and male birds carrying nesting materials. If you’re unable to determine whether any nests are present, it would be best to consult a suitably qualified ecologist to ensure there’s no legislation breach, or wait until it’s outside of nesting season. Any major pruning work should be left until after nesting season.’

Tree dormancy

The second key reason now is that your last chance to prune trees is because they will be leaving dormancy in spring. Trees are typically dormant during winter, and suspend growth and metabolic activities to conserve energy. When spring arrives, the sap starts to rise, and this can cause problems when pruning.

‘Pruning during dormancy is best for deciduous trees for several reasons,’ begins Richard Barker, horticultural expert and commercial director at LBS Horticulture.

‘Better healing – as the trees are resting, they can channel energy into sealing wounds and putting out new growth for spring.

‘Better visibility – when there are no leaves on the tree, it is easier to see damaged, diseased or crossing branches that need to be removed.

‘Reduced risk of disease – some of the insects and fungi that affect trees are less active during winter, which can reduce the risk of infection in pruning wounds.’

By contrast, pruning in spring and summer can make your tree more vulnerable to disease and insect infestations. Once spring growth is underway, you should avoid pruning unless extremely necessary.

Last-minute pruning essentials

If you haven’t completed pruning this year, it’s advisable to bump it to the top of your list of garden jobs – before it is too late!