we enjoy the flowers in spring.. then hack the heck out of it after the show ... in your case ... it isnt much of a show.. so get to work ....

you cant kill them .. so dont give that another thought ...

take out every branch greater than one inch .. as close to the ground as possible .... continue with 3/4 inches .. etc ...

a proper renovation would be no more than 1/3 per year.. 3 year project ...

you can speed it up with 1/3 now.. 1/3 in the fall ... and the remainder next spring ...

they will go gangbusters with new shoots from the ground ...

good luck

ken

ken adrian - thank you for your response.

I'm a bit confused by part of what you wrote -"take out every branch greater than one inch .. as close to the ground as possible .... continue with 3/4 inches .. etc ..."

On the branches cut now will there be new growth this summer with leaves? Will those branches have blossoms next Spring? Can you explain the underlying botany of the timing - then I might be able to extrapolate.

The three year schedule, you cut out 1/3rd of the stemps starting with the oldest and thickest. Next year you repeat the process ad infinitum, like mowing the lawn wvery week during the growing season, but just once a year.

underlying botany???? you are trying to over think this ...

shrubs are basically weeds ... hack them into whatever shape you want.. when ever you want .... like mowing a lawn ...

wherever you cut it.. 3 to 5 new shoots will emerge ... so if you cut them at 4 feet ... the growth will be at 4 feet ... and you will have an ugly bush .. ergo ... as close to the ground as possible ... so the shoots come up strong from down low .... the new shoots should set buds in the fall ... and they should bloom next year .. subject to bud damage from winter ....

teach it a lesson ... think of it this way ... you are removing 1/3 of the plant.. without interfering with the roots ... its root mass will provide the energy for it to easily replace the 1/3 this year ...

this goes for any spring flowering shrub .. lilac/spirea/flowering almond/weigalia .. and whatever ones aren't coming to my clouded mind ....

good luck

ken

I'm not trying to over think this. I just want to understand when and how a forsythia sets buds and grows leaves so that it makes sense to me instead of just following a recipe and not understanding it. I find this the best way to learn.

The suggestion to "take out every branch greater than one inch .. as close to the ground as possible .... continue with 3/4 inches .. etc ..." I am not quite following.

I understand that the basic maintenance routine involves 1/3 each year. What I am trying to learn is how to handle a shrub that was improperly pruned for perhaps 50 years.

If I cut 1/3 of the branches to the ground and leave the rest I think it will still be a mess. The shoots from last year shot up about 3-4 feet to a height of maybe 15 feet. I am thinking to cut the whole thing back to the ground to start fresh and then keep up the 1/3 maintenance after that. Does anyone have an idea of what I might expect to see in terms of growth, leaves and blooms this summer and next spring if I take this approach?

Think of it as redirecting or harnessing the energy. Last year when it was unpruned, it had so much energy it put out whatever it could from whatever growing points. If you take out a third of the largest branches this year, it will take more energy to reproduce them, so they shouldnt get so tall.

And never prune a forsythia to just a lower height. It will create multiple branches at that cut point and not look great at all. It creates a top heavy plant like what you've got now.

The "rule" of thumb is never take out more than 1/3 of anything (grass, shrubs, ...). THat is why the 3-year plan to rejuvenate a plant works safely. Gardening = patience :-)

However, there are some plants that are the exception to the rule. Forsythia is one of them that can handle a drastic rejuvenation -- where the entire plant can be cut back to a foot or so and it will make branches from that point as well as create new shoots. However, this drastic rejuvenation must be done during dormancy. It is too late in your case. So stick with the 3 year plan and you should have a fine natural looking hedge before you know it. Then keep it up too.

ALso, any shoot that the plant sends out will leaf out. Buds should be produced for next years flowering if the new shoot starts early enough in the season.

Even if you have to sacrifice flowers for a year, I think it would be worth it to get control of these.

And a VERY light application of some general-purpose 8-8-8 fertilizer might be helpful.

you ask good questions ..

you already stated you may want to remove some.. and move towards diversity .. how about you just cut one down to just above ground .. and see what happens ... i bet a buck you will be amazed how it comes back ...and if it dies.. which it wont ... then you have a spot for another plant ....

good luck to you ...

ken

taking a 2nd look at your first picture and I notice the gate in between 2 forsythia's. Big problem in that a forsythia is not a tall and narrow plant for such a spot, yet it has been maintained to be tall and narrow. If you want to continue to use the gate, you will have to keep cutting it back to allow room to walk, which will interfere with the "natural" pruning recommendations. that was probably not the best plant choice for a narrow spot like that.

A 'natural' forsythia wants to be wide.

{{gwi:250610}}

I can't see yours keeping a natural shape and still allowing gate entry.

Perhaps that particular cultivar is more upright than some, but probably thats not likely.

I would re-evaluate this entire hedge! Maybe the original owners envisioned a sheared hedge like privet or something.

I drive by a sheared forsythia hedge at a nearby shopping center and it looks ridiculous when in flower, but otherwise, its just another plain hedge.

wendyb - thank you for your posts and your photo - good point about the gate and the natural shape - we have had problems already and have thought of putting in an arbor to keep the walkway open. We put the fence and gate in when we moved in last year - for our dog. I think the previous owners were using the forsythia as a sort of visual fence. They had it sheared somewhat like a hedge at the top.

I am just trying to sort out how to best deal with these to see how they could look better. We are not fond of sheared hedges. I am seriously thinking of cutting them to a few inches of the ground and see what happens. We may need to take the ones out by the gate.

Cutting them to the ground will be fine. Then when you see how they grow, you can decide on the next step. Any shoots that grow this year will flower next but they have to have a full season of growth which is why you should do any cutting back immedicately after they flower.
Be aware that you can get more forsythia bushes merely by cutting off a shoot in spring and sticking it in the ground - keep it watered and it will make roots and turn into a bush in a year or two. Forsythia also tip roots - when the tip of a branch touches the ground, it will root and form a new bush - and if left unchecked will soon be a forsythia jungle.