Say “pruning” to most beginner gardeners, and they will think of that monstrous shrub they have just hacked back to allow more light into the kitchen. It’s true, one function of pruning is to control size. But there is a lot more to it than that and it can also include fun tasks, such as keeping your box cones nicely clipped with special topiary shears.

Pruning can seem a confusing activity, but it doesn’t need to scare new gardeners. Arm yourself with a basic guide on the subject, such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s Pruning and Training by Christopher Brickell and David Joyce (Dorling Kindersley £16.99), and practise on one plant at a time. It is important not to rush. A well-pruned shrub or tree looks cared for and shows off your growing confidence in gardening.

Remember two golden rules: first, always use clean, sharp equipment. Invest in some decent tools: sharp secateurs and shears, decent loppers and a small saw. Blunt tools leave ragged cuts, which don’t heal properly. Second, always make your cut at a point immediately above a healthy bud or, failing that, a leaf on the stem. Cutting midway between one bud and another means the stem will die back to the bud below, and this can encourage disease, as well as look unsightly. Try to angle your cuts, too; that way, water won’t sit on the stub and cause the end to rot. So, unless you’re trimming a hedge on which the buds are very close together, always make nice clean cuts at a slight angle just above a bud.

Don’t just hack at plants willy-nilly. There are specific reasons why plants need pruning — otherwise leave well alone. Probably the most important thing to do is to cut out anything dead, diseased or damaged — “the three Ds”, as I call them. If there is disease on a branch, it will travel like gangrene through the rest of the plant. Ensure you cut beyond the diseased area into good, sound wood, so the plant can heal properly. Dead branches also encourage diseases so, regardless of how their removal will affect the shape of a plant, chop them out. While you are doing that, also remove any branches that rub against each other.

Most commonly, pruning is intended to give shape to a tree or shrub. You will probably have seen fan-trained fruit trees grown against walls. Those wonderful symmetrical shapes didn’t get there by accident; they were created by careful pruning and training. New gardeners will find simpler bush shapes less demanding.

To complicate matters a little more, it is important to prune at the right time of year. There are some plants that need cutting back hard in spring each year to promote flowering. Plants that flower on growth produced that year need a hard prune, as more shoots will mean more flowers. One example is buddleia: prune it hard in March (the branches are cut down to about 1ft) to promote lots of new shoots, which will grow rapidly over the summer to flower in August.

The blazing yellow Forsythia intermedia is an example of an early- flowering shrub that should be pruned immediately after it has finished its show in spring. Reduce the branches by a third, so the plant can grow new shoots during the rest of the year — it will be these that flower the next spring. If you prune this group later in the year, you will be cutting off the following spring’s display.

Most new gardeners associate regular annual pruning with roses, and assume — wrongly — that it’s hard to do. Don’t worry, though: if you get it wrong, the plant won’t suffer too much; you will just find it flowers poorly. It is even possible to prune rose hedges with a mechanical trimmer, and they don’t seem to mind — they are tougher than you think.

Not all roses need pruning; opt for old-fashioned and species types if you feel daunted by the process. I think these look better than the rose beds of old, full of hard-pruned hybrid tea roses, and they need far less work.

Here’s a general rule: if in doubt, prune in early spring (apart from those plants that you know are definitely due to come into flower soon, such as forsythia). At this time, most plants are just waking up from their winter slumber and will relish a little trim.

Unless you’re pruning specifically to encourage flowering stems — as in buddleia and forsythia — not all plants need a heavy trim. In fact, the harder you prune, the more growth you will get, so unless you are pruning to control a plant’s size, trim lightly or you may end up with little colour.

The Royal Horticultural Society, the National Trust and some of the big gardens run pruning courses — it would be a good idea to sign up if there’s one taking place near you.

You could always give your big pruning jobs to a professional — just make sure your gardener is properly qualified: you can’t stick a branch back on once it has been lopped.

Win a Matt masterclass

Now that you know the gardening basics and are raring to transform your plot, here’s a chance to win a two-hour personal consultation from Matt James, who will visit your home and offer top tips on how to improve your garden.

To enter, call 09015 613 113 or e-mail garden@newsint.co.uk and answer the question: “What do the letters NPK stand for on a packet of fertiliser?”

Calls cost 60p per minute from BT landlines and last two minutes.The competition closes at noon on December 22, 2006. Standard newspaper competition terms and conditions apply. One entry per person.

You can find all of the articles in Matt James’s series for beginner gardeners at www.timesonline.co.uk/gardens

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