Weekend Work: Time to make cut backs

What to do

Remove any shoots that have died back in winter from outdoor abutilon. Large specimens of acacia (mimosa) can be cut back as soon as they have finished flowering if you want to reduce them in size. Otherwise, leave them alone.

Arbutus, the strawberry tree, needs no regular pruning but straggly shoots can be cut right back to the main stem now if necessary. Cut back varieties of Artemisia absinthium (which include 'Powis Castle' and 'Lambrook Silver') to within 15cm of the ground.

Aucuba (spotty laurel) that has got too big for its boots can be hacked back now to within a 60-75cm of the ground. It will soon resprout. The grey-leaved shrub, ballota should be cut back by half.

Camellias are usually best left to their own devices, but straggly shoots can be cut back flush with the main trunk if necessary.

Eccremocarpus, the Chilean glory flower, is a rampant but short-lived perennial climber. It is not reliably hardy, so frosted, dead growths may need to be cut out now.

Forsythia, which shines on a thousand railway embankments, should be pruned as soon as it has finished flowering. Take out some of the old branches at ground level each year on a three-year rotation. Forsythia hedges can be trimmed over when the flowers have finished. Do not trim them again until next spring, or you will have no flowers.

Leggy specimens of hebe can be cut hard back now, to force new shoots to spring from the base. Generally, however, this shrub can be left alone.

Overgrown bushes of rosemary can be tackled now, but not harshly. Trim shoots back by half.

What to buy

Gardens open over the Easter weekend include the Fellows' Garden at Trinity College, Queen's Rd, Cambridge, open tomorrow (2-5pm), £3.50; Trengwainton, a garden of exotic trees and shrubs at Madron, Cornwall ( trengwainton@nationaltrust.org.uk), open tomorrow (10.30am-5pm), £5.40; Professor Haszeldine's mountain garden at Copt Howe, Chapel Stile, Great Langdale, Cumbria, open today and tomorrow (12-5pm), £4; the Humphreys' cliffside garden at Cliffe, Lee, Ilfracombe, Devon, open today, Sun and Mon (9am-5pm), £3; and Brian and Wendy Wickenden's garden at 164 Point Clear Rd, St Osyth, Essex (01255 821744) opening for the first time tomorrow (11am-5pm), £2.50.