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Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Essential task gardeners must do to get 'larger and more beautiful hydrangeas'
Pruning hydrangeas is an "essential" task to get the most out of your plants. It helps to keep them at a manageable size, gives them a good shape and stimulates the plant to produce new shoots Hydrangeas are generally low-maintenance plants, but pruning them annually can help keep them looking their absolute best. Pruning helps keep hydrangeas at a manageable size, maintains their shape, and promotes new shoots, ultimately resulting in a more impressive flower display. According to Lee Burkhill, award-winning designer and presenter on BBC 1's Garden Rescue, pruning hydrangeas is "essential" to get the most out of these plants. Pruning reduces the number of flower clusters, allowing the plant to focus its energy on the remaining blooms, producing "larger, more beautiful flowers" as a result. However, before pruning hydrangeas, it's crucial to determine the best time for the task. For hydrangeas that bloom on old wood or last year's growth, pruning should occur in late summer, typically involving just deadheading and a light tidy-up. On the other hand, hydrangeas that bloom on new wood or this year's growth should be pruned in late winter to early spring by cutting back to outward-facing buds and removing older growth annually. According to the expert, pruning a hydrangea "couldn't be simpler and requires very little" equipment – just a clean and sharp pair of secateurs, and you're ready to go. The first step is to remove all the dead seed heads. He explained: "I take these back just above the next set of green buds, which are emerging. I do this first before thinning or reducing the height of the shrub as it gives me a better view of the overall shrub size and shape." Next, gardeners should remove one-quarter of the oldest stems, reports the Express. This practice helps maintain your hydrangea's productivity by redirecting energy into new, fresh growth. Lee continued: "Over time, older stems will get longer and less productive, leading to potential bare patches and less productive displays." After you've removed the flower heads and cleared some of the older stems, the subsequent step is to thin out any congested growth or crossing branches. These can rub against each other, increasing the likelihood of damage. Moreover, flowers that emerge in these tangled areas may end up crushed or damaged. Stems that are damaged may be snapped or show signs of black dieback, both of which should be cut off. You should either trim back to the next healthy bud down or remove them completely to the ground if necessary. Once you've dealt with the three Ds: damaged, diseased, or dead wood, and you've taken out a quarter of the oldest stems, it's time to prune for flowers. Trim the top third of hydrangea growth back to a fresh bud or leaf node. By pruning just above the bud, you encourage the hydrangea to remain compact and robust. Leaving it unpruned may result in flowering, but often leads to a top-heavy appearance and a bare look further down. Once you've completed the task, you should have an open, airy shrub with plenty of airflow and no crossing stems.
Telegraph
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Love My Face, review: a skin-deep approach to a potentially fascinating subject
You don't have to trawl too far down the channels to be confronted by all kinds of medical shock docs asking us to gawp at how the human body can play cruel tricks on us. Doctor Down Below and People Like Pus: Zit ER (yes, really) are two of my personal favourites. So I was braced for a hard watch with Love My Face (Channel 4), which promised a look at the work of the surgeons at a Yorkshire clinic dedicated to treating patients whose self-esteem had hit rock bottom because of the way they looked. The brainchild of writer and motivational speaker Jono Lancaster, whose own appearance has been impacted by Treacher Collins Syndrome, the clinic is aimed at those who can't afford sky-high surgical procedure fees. Now I'm not sure what this says about me as a person, but the first trio of cases featured in the series struck me as, well, not too extreme in the medical shock doc scheme of things. Beautician Mia's alopecia had rocked her confidence, builder Terry's burns had left him feeling like he'd lost who he was, while another, Mia, a trans barista, felt judged on the basis of having a masculine jawline. They all needed help, certainly, but it felt we were on an entry-level scheme of what the clinic could offer. Which, it has to be said, is as much about offering psychological support as it is about hooking up patients with the appropriate surgeon. Lancaster, an inspirational figure, is a poster boy for positivity in light of adversity, refusing to hide from the world and helping others follow his lead by getting potential patients to open up about what's really going on behind their looks. Though it was scarcely a surprise, when our three case-studies opted for the surgical route Love My Face took great delight in running us through the full menu of medical procedures on offer. If only it had shown the same rigour when it came to giving us some hard facts on how the clinic had come about and how it actually operated. You know, stuff that wasn't all about filling its airtime with tear-jerking back stories. More about the surgeons would not have gone amiss. Some background on the people that the clinic treats and how they came to be featured on the programme would also have shown some journalistic nous. Instead it was all fluff and few facts, the story undercut by a soft-centred reality show approach – a little bit The Dog House (jolly receptionist with cute dog, chats on the sofa) and a little bit Garden Rescue (here comes the big reveal) – that did its subject a disservice. Admirable and well-intentioned as Jono Lancaster's clinic undoubtedly is, Love My Face feels like a skin-deep approach to a potentially fascinating mission.
