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Species pages, pruning and the pruning calendar

What’s on a species page, how and when to prune a tree or hedge, the pruning guide per plant and the month-by-month pruning calendar.

#Species pages

Species lists all the species from the keys. Every species page has the same 5 parts (Identify, In your garden, Maintenance, Use, and You and this species) with always the same 22 sections; at the top are At a glance and On this profile, showing how many sections are filled in. Anything not there yet is marked still empty. Every species also has an extended profile, which covers why it suits your garden, position, planting, care, propagation, winter, pests and diseases and the year round. Each species page shows:

• Key facts (below At a glance): the pruning months, the height, whether the species is native to Belgium, whether it is good for bees, butterflies and birds, whether it is poisonous to people and pets, and the flowering months. Short, so you can look it up or quote it quickly.
• Features: leaves, bark, fruit and flowering, and the species that look similar, with Difference from …: the comparison page of both species.
• Photos from Wikimedia Commons, with the photographer’s name and the licence.
• What can you use it for?: wood, food and drink, the garden, its value for wildlife, and warnings (such as poisonous parts).
• Edible and useful (for about 100 species): what to harvest and when, storing, fermenting and recipes. See Edible plants and recipes.
• Pruning: how and when, with a month bar for trees and hedges, and Pruning: when and how: the plant’s pruning guide.
• Good for wildlife: which animals benefit from the species, such as bees, butterflies or birds (see below).
• What goes with it?: good and bad neighbours in the garden.
• Did you know?: facts about the species, its history, its wood or the animals that live on it.
• Asked nearby (only if you are logged in and there are resolved questions): the questions the neighbourhood answered about this species, with the best answer. See Ask the neighbours.
• Its status (native, naturalised…) and how often the species is recorded, according to waarnemingen.be (the Belgian wildlife recording website).
• Updated on: the day the text of the profile last changed.

A few headings are a question, with the answer straight away in the first sentence: English oak: when to prune it? starts with the pruning months, English oak: how does it get through the winter? with how hardy it is.

#The status dots

Every species in the species list and in your guide has coloured dots; on the species page they’re shown with their names. What do they mean? Choose What do the dots mean? above the list.

• Native, naturalised or planted: does the species grow naturally in Belgium, does it escape into the wild, or do you only see it in gardens and parks?
• Invasive non-native: crowds out native plants; better not to plant it.
• Rare in the wild and Red List: threatened or vulnerable in Flanders.
• Poisonous: take care with children and pets.
• Prune now and Harvest now: this month is a good month for pruning, or you can harvest something from it.

The garden plants and the wild plants from Europe have dots too. A garden plant is planted, unless it is native. A wild plant that grows in Belgium is native, except the species that were brought in later and escaped into the wild, such as Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed. Those are naturalised.

Under Species all species in Bladwijzer are in one list: those with a detailed profile, the garden and house plants and the wild plants from Europe, nearly 2000 in all. Pick a group (broadleaved trees, conifers, shrubs, hedges, climbers, fruit; the others under More groups) and combine it with Show only: native, good for bees, prune now, harvest now, seen, still to find or detailed profile. Sort by name or scientific name, switch between a grid and a compact list, and load more with Show more species. Origin and rarity are guide values for Flanders, based on the Flora of Belgium and waarnemingen.be.

With I’ve seen this one you save the species to your guide. With Add to my garden you choose a garden and tap the map where the plant is or should go; the species is already filled in for you (see Placing plants).

#Good for wildlife

The species page of trees and shrubs has a Good for wildlife section: who the species offers food or shelter to in the garden.

In your own garden, vegetable garden or indoor garden, Good for wildlife also appears at the bottom of the page, with the animals and the plants that attract them (see To do, log and problems). The vegetables, herbs and flowers in your vegetable garden count too.

#A species that isn’t in the guide

Our guide has more than 260 species with features and pruning tips. Most are also in the identification key; the newest species already have a full page but aren’t in the key (yet). Looking for a different plant? Type its name under Species: below our own species you’ll also see matches from Garden plants, from More species from Europe and from the complete waarnemingen.be database, the database behind ObsIdentify, which covers every plant recorded in Belgium and the Netherlands.

#Garden plants

Garden plants lists plants you can buy at garden centres and nurseries. Each plant has a page with:

• its position: sun, partial shade or shade, the soil type, the acidity and how moist the soil may be;
• its size and hardiness: how tall and wide it grows, and down to what temperature it survives the winter;
• the months: when it flowers, when to sow it (indoors or outdoors) and when to plant it;
• a short tip and features such as good for bees, evergreen or poisonous;
• a live description from Wikipedia, and photos.

Every page starts with At a glance: light (sun, partial shade or shade), moisture, hardiness, size and flowering, with small drawings. Some plants also have a detailed profile below that, just like the species in the guide:

• an introduction and Why grow it?;
• the features (habit, leaf, flower…) and the position;
• planting step by step, care (watering, feeding, mulching…) and a tip;
• pruning with a pruning calendar, when and how, and what to watch out for;
• propagation, in winter, pests and diseases with what to do;
• through the year: what to do each month;
• goes well with (with a link if that plant has a profile too) and Did you know?.

Buttons at the top take you straight to a section. The detailed profile replaces the Wikipedia text. Under Species, the detailed profile filter shows them. We add them in series of about a hundred plants; the first series covers popular perennials, shrubs, bulbs, grasses and summer bedding; the second adds more perennials and shrubs, small trees, fruit for pots or walls, climbers, herbs, annuals and houseplants; the third mostly border and shade perennials (hellebore, primrose, cranesbill, mullein, lily of the valley), spring bulbs, bedding plants, grasses, ferns and water plants; the fourth scented and winter-flowering shrubs (witch hazel, winter daphne, oleander), more perennials and bulbs, annuals for bees, houseplants, herbs, and a few trees and climbers; the fifth more perennials, shrubs, bulbs and houseplants (coffee plant, pitcher plant), kitchen herbs and fruit (mandarin, loganberry); the sixth is for a natural garden: ornamental grasses and sedges, ferns, pond and bog plants (with the planting depth) and wild flowers for a meadow; the seventh is mixed again, from perennials and shrubs to houseplants, herbs, fruit and climbers, and so are the eighth, ninth and tenth. Every plant in the catalogue now has one (1,368). If such a plant is in your garden, the garden report takes the care and pruning from the profile under Care per plant.

Search by the Dutch, French or English name, or by the scientific name, and pick a group or the light.

What grows well in my soil? Under Suits my soil, choose one of your gardens (if Bladwijzer knows its soil) or choose the soil type, acidity and moisture yourself. Each plant then gets a label: Good fit, Caution or Not advised. Only what suits well hides the rest. In your garden’s Soil section, What grows well in this soil? takes you straight to that list.

On the plant page, Does it suit my garden? gives the verdict for each of your gardens, with what you can do about it. If you put a plant from the catalogue in your garden, Will it fit here? uses the same data. Houseplants are in a pot: the soil doesn’t count there. Their page gives the light, the minimum temperature and when to repot, and Only what suits well leaves them out unless you pick the Houseplants group.

#More species from Europe

More species from Europe lists hundreds of extra species: trees, shrubs, climbers, wild flowers, ferns and grasses from all over Europe, and what is often planted here in gardens and parks. Search by the Dutch, French or English name, or by the scientific name, and pick a group or the origin: wild in Belgium, elsewhere in Europe or gardens and parks.

Every species has a page with its name in the three languages, the family and the origin, plus a live description from Wikipedia (in your language when there is one), photos from Wikimedia Commons and the status in Belgium from waarnemingen.be.

Every species, 312 in all, has a detailed profile, like the garden plants: wild flowers of verges, fields and dunes (common poppy, cornflower, foxglove, cow parsley, sea-kale…), wild orchids, sundew and gentians, trees and shrubs from all over Europe (firs, downy oak, carob, mastic tree…), climbers, ferns, grasses, sedges, kitchen herbs (dill, chives, lovage…) and a few garden classics. At the top is At a glance (light, moisture, hardiness, size and flowering), then:

• Why is it special?: which insects and birds it helps, and what makes it special;
• How to recognise it: leaf, flower, fruit and stem, and which species it can be confused with;
• Site: where it grows in the wild and where it does well in your garden;
• In your garden: sowing or planting step by step (never dig up plants from the wild), care and mowing;
• Propagation, In winter, Diseases and pests, Through the year, Goes well with and Did you know?.

Toxic species have Caution at the top. An invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed or Himalayan balsam, is not one to plant: its profile explains how to recognise it, remove it and control it, and what to plant instead. The Detailed profile filter under Species shows them, and if such a species is in your garden, its profile also goes into the garden report.

A species from the database has its own page with its name, its status in Belgium, a description and photos from Wikipedia. You can save that species to your guide or your garden too. Features and pruning tips aren’t included (yet): if a species is missing, let us know.

#Garden jobs month by month

Garden jobs month by month puts everything for a month on one page, for example Garden jobs in October (the former Season page; old links lead to the new page automatically):

• at the top, the answer: what to do that month, in a few sentences (“In October you plant trees, hedges and shrubs, leave fallen leaves under shrubs for hedgehogs and insects …”), and which season the page has been updated for;
• what to do in the garden: the jobs for the month;
• what to prune, with a link to each plant’s pruning guide and to that month’s pruning calendar;
• what to sow and plant: sowing indoors, sowing outdoors, planting out and harvesting in the vegetable garden, with a link to the sowing calendar;
• what to harvest from trees, shrubs and garden plants, with a few recipes;
• what’s flowering for bees;
• nature this month: what hedgehogs, birds, bees and butterflies are doing (the nesting season from mid-March to mid-August, hedgehogs hibernating, leaving the leaves) and what you can see;
• the challenges of the season and the articles for that month;
• Wildlife garden that month: the wildlife garden guides that are in season;
• Coming up: the page for two months ahead, so you can plan in time.

If you’re logged in, In your gardens also shows the plants in your own gardens to prune or harvest that month. The overview Garden jobs shows all twelve months, with the current month highlighted.

Every month in your inbox? Turn on Garden jobs this month. A council, school or gardening club can also show the month on its own website with the widget.

#The pruning calendar

The pruning calendar shows month by month which trees, fruit trees and hedges you can prune. Each month has its own page, for example March, with what to do in the garden that month, what to look out for in nature, and the articles that go with it. Trees from your guide are listed first. Every tree and hedge links to its pruning guide, and at the bottom you’ll find Pruning guide by plant.

At the bottom you’ll find the basic rules:

• Cut just outside the branch collar, never into the trunk.
• Take a heavy branch off in three cuts, so the bark doesn’t tear.
• Don’t prune hedges and shrubs during the nesting season (March to August) if birds are nesting in them.
• Felling or heavily pruning large trees sometimes requires a permit. Check with your local council (gemeente or commune).

#Pruning guide by plant

Every plant with pruning months has its own pruning guide, for example Beech or Apple tree: the trees and shrubs in the guide, plus the garden plants and species from Europe that have a pruning month, over 1,500 guides in all. Each guide answers four questions:

• When to prune? The months are right there in the first sentence, the same as in the pruning calendar and on the profile, with a month bar. For a hedging plant you see separately when to clip the hedge and when to prune a free-standing tree or shrub.
• How to prune? Step by step.
• How much and how often? How hard you can prune and how many times a year.
• What does it mean for wildlife? Whether pruning falls in the nesting season (15 March–15 August), flowers for bees and butterflies, fruit and berries for birds, and shelter for hedgehogs and insects.

Below that come the common mistakes, what to watch out for (Caution) and Nearby: related guides, the profile and the month pages, and for a species from the guide Similar to: the comparison pages with the species that look similar. On the profile, Pruning: when and how takes you to the guide.

A hundred guides have their own, detailed text: hedges and fruit trees for the winter (beech, hornbeam, privet, yew, hawthorn, field maple, apple, pear, plum and cherry), roses, hydrangeas, soft fruit and climbers for spring and summer (bush rose, climbing rose, hydrangea, panicled hydrangea, butterfly bush, lavender, raspberry, redcurrant, large-flowered clematis and wisteria), evergreen hedges, spring-flowering shrubs and southern fruit (box, cherry laurel, thuja, Leyland cypress, forsythia, lilac, grapevine, fig, olive and kiwi), soft fruit, stone fruit and ornamental shrubs (blackcurrant, gooseberry, blueberry, peach, apricot, holly, weigela, spiraea, magnolia and Japanese maple), nuts, pollard willow, berrying shrubs, evergreens and winter fruit (hazel, walnut, pollard willow, elder, firethorn, photinia, ivy, rosemary, quince and medlar), native shrubs, shrubs pruned after flowering, stone fruit and soft fruit (common dogwood, guelder rose, mock orange, deutzia, witch hazel, Japanese flowering cherry, almond, hardy kiwi, jostaberry and blackberry), hedges, trees and climbers (blackthorn, dog rose, wild privet, Cornelian cherry, juneberry, sycamore, lime, Virginia creeper, honeysuckle and cotoneaster), and plants for acid soil, ornamental shrubs and fruit (rhododendron, camellia, heather, rose of Sharon, Californian lilac, barberry, Japanese kerria, morello cherry, nashi and black mulberry), and clematis, hydrangeas and shrubs (mountain clematis, Italian clematis, old man’s beard, climbing hydrangea, smooth hydrangea, oakleaf hydrangea, rowan, red-barked dogwood, alder buckthorn and Japanese spiraea), and ornamental shrubs and a tree (mountain hydrangea, Japanese snowball, wayfaring tree, ninebark, Japanese barberry, skimmia, pieris, bluebeard, golden clematis and sweet chestnut). The others are compiled from the profile and the pruning calendar. At the bottom of the pruning calendar you’ll find Pruning guide by plant: reviewed guides first, then those with their own text, and a search box for all guides.

Updated on 2026-10-11