Left my garden to rack and ruin at the summer. Reassure me I can resurrect it.

[Danc1ng1nthedark]

Roses, clematis, everything. I just had to halt. 😫

Was towards the end of the summer. Kept it all watered but couldn’t sort it for autumn. No pruning or anything. Weeds everywhere… Didn’t cut down the dahlias.

Ordinary garden plants can be annoyingly resilient! Hack back everything you can asap - it'll re-grow just fine. Anything a bit more exotic may struggle, but losing them may incentivise you to grow something new and different.

Get cutting when you are able. It will all most likely bounce back.

Gardens are very resilient, just give everything a tidy up now and it will be fine.

Your roses will be ok if you prune them now. They’re pretty hardy things

This is the right time for pruning roses, and for doing major pruning of almost anything (unless it’s something used to regenerating like dogwood or willow, restrict yourself taking out no more than a third of the main stems)

Weeding is easier at this time of year because the soil is softer

pruning isnt an all-the-year round activity.

Have a look at David Austin’s website. They’re rose specialists. Different roses have slightly requirements eg a climber is different to a bush. They give great advice.

The ideal time to prune roses is around Valentine's day. Good way to remember, actually.

If you know which time of year the clematis flowers, then that tells you when to prune it. Same goes for shrubs. Flowers in early spring: prune shortly afterwards. Flowers in mid-summer: prune early spring. Do it the wrong way round and you get no flowers.

The dahlias have probably had it, because they aren't really hardy when left outside all winter, although if it has been really mild where you are, then you could be lucky. Just cut the dead stuff away at ground level now, and see what happens.

If you know which time of year the clematis flowers, then that tells you when to prune it. Same goes for shrubs. Flowers in early spring: prune shortly afterwards. Flowers in mid-summer: prune early spring. Do it the wrong way round and you get no flowers. That’s a good rule of thumb. I follow the one that says “prune just after it flowers (unless you’re growing it for berries). But delay winter pruning till the end of winter.

The rationale behind these rules is:

Some plants flower on new growth, others on older stems. The ones that flower on new growth can’t flower in spring because they haven’t had time to grow the flowering branches. Pruning in autumn or late winter stimulates the growth of new branches which will flower in summer.

The ones that flower on old branches can flower earlier in the year, because they’re flowering on last year’s growth, so pruning after flowering gives a lot of time this year for growing branches which will flower next year.

This is all for light pruning to keep in shape. For rejuvenation pruning when you’re taking out whole stems at the base, and having to use a saw, best to do it in the dormant season and spread the job over 3 years.