Haha....good luck with the lilac. It won't flower for you again until it's VERY rapidly grown out to precisely the size it is now.

At least the Spirea will be somewhat better behaved. You'd be better off following the 1/3 rule every year with the Spirea rather than waiting until you have to chop the whole thing down.

since you all are asking about spirea.. and these pix were still in my PB album.. i am bumping this..

and smiv is wrong on the lilac... i agree i might lose a year.. but it bloomed at half the height it is now.. so why should it need to get the same height again ...

anyone care to link this to the multitude of spirea ???'s .. feel free ...

ken

The lower 1/2 of an older shrub is often bare and unattractive. There are two approaches to rejuvenating the shrub (other than replacing it). The easiest and worst way to do it is to just hack the whole thing down. It will most likely come back, but in desperation, the lilac may send up lots of suckers that grow straight up and take years to strengthen and develop any character or blooms. The best way to rejuvenate an older lilac is to remove 1/4 to 1/3 of the oldest, woodiest stems as close to the ground as possible. At the same time, cut back the remaining branches a few inches, being sure to leave enough leaves to feed the plant for the summer. This encourages suckering. The following spring, do the same thing again, removing more of the oldest remaining stems. If there are too many suckers forming, select the strongest few and trim out the rest. Continue this process each spring until the shrub has been totally rejuvenated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lilac care

The most effective approach varies with the specific kind of shrub. "Flowering shrubs" is too broad. And usually when cutting most of the top away that is done in winter, as mentioned in regard to lilacs in the preceding post.

Yes. I'm glad you posted this because I've just severely pruned my spirea vanhouttei hedge and boy does it look pitiful. Last week it screened my garden from the street and now it almost is - no more.. Worse, I only cut off the tops of older canes because new growth is only emerging higher up and not at the base of the shrubs. Right now they look like a bunch of six foot tall sticks with little green on top. I'm sure the hedge will bounce back to its former self but could I have done it better? I should add that in March I also removed some of the old growth cutting at the base of the shrubs.

You should have just cut the whole thing down all at once during winter.

i found i still had the pix loaded.. go figure

ken