How to prune your plants

You need to prune your plants to keep them healthy. file photo

What you need to know:

If you are not sure of which plants to put in your garden, please consult.

Below, Brighton Onyango, a landscaper and gardener with Plants for Africa in Buziga explains:
“You cannot have a plant without pruning it because it will start drying up. So you have to cut it off so that the plant remains healthy.
When to prune

Prune at a time when you know the plant will get enough water – mostly when the rainy season is approaching. So, because of the uptake of water during the rainy season, the plant will not be stressed.

At what stage
Wait for them to stabilise – for the roots to get properly anchored in the soil. That way, they will not be affected in any way after pruning.
To establish whether they have matured, look at them carefully, if they have flowers, it means they have matured. However, when stray branches stop coming up, it is time to stop pruning.

Types of pruning
There are two ways of pruning a plant: the slight type and the deep or wholesome type. The deep type is where you prune everything and the plant comes up again.

With the slight type of pruning, you pick out a few branches, to shape the plant.
Deep prune if your plants are attacked by disease. You tear out the disease, so that the shoots that come up will be from the plant itself. After pruning, spray and do away with the disease that was there.

For spraying, Pirinex will do. A litre goes for Shs179,200 at Balton (U) Ltd. Mix two millilitres to a litre of water.
You can also find Darsbun anywhere in town at Shs64,000 a litre. Prune when the rains are approaching, or during the rains – around April and October.