Status: 07.06.2023 2:29 p.m
On St. John’s Day, Christians celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. However, June 24th is also an important date in the garden: it marks the time for pruning and the end of the harvest for some plants.
Traditionally, asparagus is no longer pricked after June 24th. The reason: the plant must have enough time until autumn to store nutrients in the rootstock for the coming year. It then forms the green above-ground asparagus herb and carries out photosynthesis.
Rhubarb should also not be harvested after Johanni. The vegetables then produce more oxalic acid, which can cause kidney damage in high doses. And rhubarb also has to recover from the harvest.
Cutting hedges around St. John’s Day
Around St. John’s Day is a good time to carry out a pruning of many hedge plants. By then, the plants have completed the first budding and are in a short dormant phase. The growth from the spring months is cut back by about two thirds. The subsequent new growth is also referred to as Johannistrieb.
Important: On the day of pruning, it should not be too hot so that the plants do not get sunburned. In addition, care must be taken for breeding birds. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, the hedges may not be cut radically during this time.
Pruning some ornamental trees encourages a second flowering
The days around St. John’s Day are also a good time for pruning for many ornamental trees. Some, such as the weigela, even flower a second time afterwards. A pruning is recommended, for example, for:
Lilac Snowball SpiereWeigelie
Plants that bloom in spring, such as Deutzia, forsythia or mock orange (garden jasmine) are best cut immediately after flowering. If they are pruned later in the year, they will not flower the following year as they set their buds throughout the year.
Summer pruning for fruit trees
Fruit trees such as cherry and apple trees throw off weak and surplus fruit with the so-called June fall. After that – but in any case after St. John’s Day – one-year-old soft shoots that grow steeply upwards or into the inside of the tree are simply torn out. Shoots affected by diseases such as powdery mildew or growing too close together should be cut off.
Further information
Nature shows us when it is time to sow seeds or trim hedges. What blooms when and what is there to do in the garden? more
This topic in the program:
Quickly through the garden | 04/25/2022 | 9:00 p.m