Those who enjoy gardening know that certain garden tasks should be completed in certain months.
Horticulturist Monty Don told gardening enthusiasts the one job they should be completing before the end of the month is the winter pruning of fruit trees.
Monty Don said: "This is always my big January job and if nothing else this is something I like to have finished by the end of the month."
Pruning may involve restricting the size of a shrub or tree or removing dead or unattractive growth. It could also involve improving the shape or keeping it in a state to produce flowers and/or berries.
January is the perfect month for one 'big' gardening job
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Before pruning, gardeners must consider how something grows beforehand.
Consider whether your fruit tree is flowering on new or old wood, grow new shoots quickly or have them steadily emerge.
Monty asked: "Does a fruit tree need to achieve a certain maturity to create spurs that bear fruit or will they be produced in the first year of growth?
"Does the plant heal well or is it, like cherries and plums, a bleeder - and if so when does it produce the least sap?"
The expert advised gardeners that if they do not know the answer to these questions, they should refrain from pruning. He explained that when it comes to gardening, "patience is a virtue".
If your fruit tree is in need of winter pruning, it's important that you don't go overboard.
Monty explained that if an apple tree is pruned too much each winter it will make a mass of new growth.
However, it will not produce new flowers and therefore it will produce no fruit.
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Monty Don warned that Over-zealous pruning can be detrimental
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The over-pruning can result in more over-pruning the next year, in an attempt to remove the new fruitless growth.
It's important to avoid this, or risk attracting aphids and fungal disease to the sap.
Monty warned: "So through over-zealous and mistimed pruning people often ruin their fruit trees."
Those who want to reduce growth should leave pruning until the summer - July being the optimal month - as the foliage will be fully grown but won't yet have started storing food for the winter.
The gardening expert concluded that a few trees should not be pruned in winter. Leave plums, apricots, peaches and cherries until late spring and only prune if really needed.
