Twice I have pruned back hard to get below the many branches that were damaged by snow load. As long as there were growth buds present below where I cut, the plants recovered quickly. Commercial growers also routinely cut back hard to induce bushiness for a better looking, more saleable plant.

When daphnes are sold balled and burlapped, the clay soil is there in order to create a root ball that stays together. Most that I've seen in pots use a much lighter peat based medium.

Carol Mackie is a beautiful daphne, but I've inevitably lost too many to an early wet snow before I'd put up a snow shield. My last one - easily 3x4 feet - was split right down to the base two winters ago and was not salvageable. The last of Carol for me.

I had a massive CM daphne at my old garden that I pruned back regularly each season, as it got huge. Like the previous poster, I found it rebounded well. I waited until after bloom to prune but I can't say any of my pruning was very 'hard'.......just trimming back of excessively long or wayward branches or those that interferred with the walkway.

And yes, the clay rootballs are intended to keep the soil intact when transplanting, especially larger shrubs. Daphnes resent root disturbance and larger sized specimens that may be sold B&B are most often presented this way. Smaller containerized plants are generally grown in a looser, lighter medium but do risk some transplant shock if the roots are disturbed much at planting.

thank you both. i will give it a go per your experiences.

I still don't get the clay thing. the clay doesn't cling to the roots and hold them together; it just falls away from them, leaving them totally exposed. that's not been your experience?
th you again
mindy

Mindy, did you prune Carol "hard"? and if so, how did she respond?