Another overgrown shrub in our garden! (I didn't plant it and wouldn't have chosen it but anyway...) We have a large and scraggly bridal wreath spirea - the bottom 3 feet are bare legs, then a mess of branches up top,, It is under a huge evergreen so it doesn't get enough sunlight to flower all that nicely anyway.. But, I hate to just kill a plant, so is it worth it/ possible to do some remedial pruning over a couple of years to help it regain some branches near the bottom, or is there a better flowerin shrub for this type of location (pretty shady)
You can cut this down to near the ground during winter and have part of the top come back again by the following winter. No need to do it in stages, the whole thing can be leveled in one go.
Good to know we can do it all in one go - thanks Ron! So maybe in Nov/ Dec? Can I do some pruning of the top branches in summer so they don't look so out of control?
I feel your pain, Strawpenny. I've got exactly the same thing from the previous owner. I'm also going to be cutting it back severely next winter. I also feel as you do about not wanting to kill something just because I don't like it. My solution to that is moving things around. I've dug out several bushes in the same shape, and replanted them in other corners of the yard where they can take their time to recover from pruning and are no longer a focal point.
sea Witch - Good idea to move things around. We are currently attempting to transplant a camellia to the back yard - if it works there's another one I'd like to move as well.. The first was blocking our front window and imposing on the path to the front door - I think some people don't consider how big plants will get when they plant them (we have another issue with shrubs growing into one another because they are planted too close together!)
