The garden is calling ....

Dear gardening friends, today the warm weather drove me out into the garden in the early hours of the morning. The birds gave me a wonderful concert while I started my first pruning work armed with hedge shears and large secateurs.

The first thing I did was to take care of the grasses and cut them back to ten centimeters.

I only cut the pampas grass, which is green and lush, close to the ground and left the rest standing. Let's see how it develops.

As everyone who follows us #Beetschwestern knows, we only cut down perennials in spring and leave them standing over the winter to provide shelter and protection. Today I left them all standing - apart from a single spur flower specimen, in the immediate vicinity of which tulips should be growing. Where I don't damage spring bloomers when cutting them back, last year's perennials remain standing for quite a long time in spring.

I have only just pruned the butterfly bush this year. Unfortunately, as there was no heavy snowfall, none of the branches broke off this winter.

The next plants I will cut back are the hydrangeas, starting with the ball hydrangea, which will receive the most pruning, followed by the panicle hydrangeas. Finally, I will cut off the dry blossoms from our farmer's hydrangea.

With the roses, we always wait for the time when the forsythia bloom.

If you have fruit trees in your garden. If they need pruning, late February or early March is a good time for apples, pears and quinces.

Happy gardening!