Forsythia. http://ioseis.notlong.com/ 25 April 2008 Pictures of my two forsythia. I tend to let this plant grow as it desires, since it is situated in an area of no consequence at the rear of the property. But if pruning is necessary, it must be done immediately after blooming, since new growth will form and this is the flowering part for next year.
yes, if you have the room to let them grow naturally, i think it makes it look nicer. i did see a bunch of them once that were being used as a fence/hedge...a dozen or so set equally apart from each other and trimmed just-so so that it looked like they were dove-tailed (like you do with wood for floors). even with the dove-tailing the individual bushes were not actually touching - they did the cutting in a way so you could see about 2-3 inches of space between the bushes and could really see the detail of the pruning. really, really nice and unique treatment!
Durgan Thanks for sharing your forsythia. We have not had a forsythia in our garden for many years. But here is one that I photographed on the 27th of April. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2447060148_83b9c2ae83.jpg
