I have a couple of Forsythias in my back garden which certain grow well enough, but the newer growth is prone to collapse under its own weight, especially when it gets rained on.
Last year I had to cut out 2/3 of one of them because it had collapsed onto the lawn.
The other plant has certainly been trimmed down more often and looks more like a small tree although it still suffers a bit because the new growth is at a staggering rate ( new shoots have already surpassed 3 ft this season so far ).
I want to give it a chance to get some better core strength so rain and wind dont affect it quite so much, so how much should I keep pruning it back to get this result?
Last winter I took 60% off the smaller plant and the other one I thinned it out with little mercy, not that it made any difference, they are both surging towards 15-18 ft now, by the end of the summer the bigger plant will easily hit 20ft.
Im hoping to avoid what happened last year when a night of heavy rain created a Forsythia that resembled a peeled bananna come the morning!
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Where are you pruning it to? With Forsythias you need to prune them right at ground level, and allow the new shoots to grow from the bottom. If they are getting old, prune out the oldest branches first, usually about a third of the plant. And it needs to be done after flowering, so they have all summer to develop the new flowering shoots for the next year.
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Problem with new shoots from the ground is they fall over as soon as they get rained on, I had that problem last year.
The bigger of the two plants seems to have been progressively pruned from an early stage so its quite strong up to about 6 ft with thick branches, which is what id like to aim for with the smaller plant, but I dont know what they did with the bigger plant to get the result.
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>> www.gardeningknowhow.com/trees-shrubs/forsythia-pruning.htm
As I said above. The only thing I can think of is that your Forsythias are growing in deep shade - this may make them leggy and weak.
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Are you sure you have the bush variety rather than the weeping or trailing variety?
www.aboutforsythia.com/weeping_forsythia.shtml
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I post a picture up in about an hour.
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Here it is. Looks a bit lop sided I know but it was even when I pruned it!
i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee119/stunorthants/Garden/SDC10484.jpg
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Either I have had 8 pints, or you have. Boy is that blurred, made my eyes go funny.
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Right. It looks like the bush variety. If you want to keep it about the same height as it is now prune 2/3 of the stems back about 25%. Prune the remaining stems to ground level. They will create strong growing shoots and form the basis of nest year's growth and ensure a strong plant for the future. Don't forget to feed the shrub. A handful of bonemeal around the base will do the trick. Don't delay otherwise you will lose next year's flowers if you prune too late. Difficult to kill a Forsythia though. Good luck.
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Pruning shrub/tree for strength - corax
