MEMBERS welcomed back Tom Deans to the recent meeting of the Weaverham & District Gardening Club. Tom has spent all his life in horticulture, training at Kew and finishing his career as head of horticulture at Reaseheath College.

The gardener wants a healthy shrub which produces flowers, grows vigorously, is a pleasing shape and doesn’t shade out other plants. This is achieved through pruning. The first step is to identify the shrub and to know when it flowers.

He also recommended looking carefully at spring flowering shrubs before pruning as sometimes hard frosts will have done your pruning for you. It is important to have the right equipment for the job.

Stems of up to ¾ of an inch can be pruned with secateurs, ¾ to 1 1/2 inches need loppers and anything thicker needs a pruning saw. Tools should be sharpened regularly.

Pruning is also important in cutting out dead or diseased stems to prevent any disease spreading and maybe killing the shrub completely. Members went away full of confidence, in readiness for spending their spring pruning.

Weaverham and District Gardeners club meets on the last Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm at University Primary Academy, Northwich Road, Weaverham.

For more information ring 01606 85267 or visit our website: weaverhamgardeners.btck.co.uk

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 31 and features Cheshire Wildlife Trust talking about plants to encourage wildlife