TACKLE YOUR UNRULY SHRUBS
Renovate those overgrown deciduous plants now to keep them in shape and flowering
Shrubs of all kinds are perfect for adding permanent structure to a garden and provide foliage and flowers at different times of the year. A general rule is to carry out light pruning after flowering by removing some of the stems that have flowered and to shorten long extension growth to create a bushy habit. This keeps the shrub under control and maintains a natural shape, which I think looks be er than when trimmed over with shears to create a dome!
After several years though, growth at the base can become thick and congested and needs harder pruning to renovate the shrub. Several summer-flowering shrubs in my garden, such as philadelphus, weigela, deutzia and kolkwitzia, are over 10 years old and need rejuvenating to prevent them ge ing woody and gnarled. This doesn’t mean cu ing all the shrub back hard to ground level – it wouldn’t kill the shrub, in fact it will promote strong growth over summer – but it may not flower for a few years and you’ll lose the natural shape. The aim is to renovate it by cu ing out older stems at ground level, thinning crowded growth and doing a li le shaping, so the shrub will keep its natural growth habit and still produce flowers this summer.
Once pruned it should have a similar shape, slightly smaller in height and width, with branches thinned out.