Q My father’s winter jasmine has got out of hand and I said I would prune it for him. It is a mass of tangled stems. What do I do?
Mrs J. Casey, Burton-on-Trent
A I have a love/hate relationship with winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, so cheerful and so unruly. On the one hand its twigs of yellow flowers keep coming all winter and pick well. On the other hand it can turn into a slumped mess unless you prune it at this time of year after it has finished flowering. Fortunately it springs back from ruthless cutting. If your father’s is as bad as you say, I would take the lot off at ground level, feed it well and train four or five shoots on canes up the wall. It needs this help for it’s a sprawler rather like a bramble. It needs holding up against a wall, from where its youngest, flowering green stems can cascade downwards. Every year take many of them out to keep a fresh supply coming along. It’s a forgiving plant so you can’t go far wrong.