On 07/03/2020 16:52, Martin Brown wrote:
It matters more with things where you are growing them for their
ornamental winter stems in which case removing the oldest third and any
crossing branches is a reasonable working scheme.

I wish the people who are paid to do the "gardening" (1) here - Housing
Association property - knew that. They turned up about a month or 2 ago
and chain-sawed along a row of 3 dogwoods which I was gifted last year,
reducing them to a uniform 18". At the same time, *yet again* they gave
the same treatment to my dog rose - despite having been told at least 3
times not to touch it. It now looks *terrible* and I think the only
solution is to take it back to ground level - as someone did before I
came along - and see if it resurrects for a second time.

(1) I hesitate to use the word because they obviously haven't a clue
about how to do real gardening.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK