In a fit of excitement Pete The Gardener uttered:

On Sat, 17 May 2003 17:08:17 +0100, Bigjon
wrote:

We have a Robinia pseudocarpus frisia which suffered badly during the
Winter. Two thirds of it died and it looks terrible. Can we prune it
*really* hard, or will it kill it ?

Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia' has an anoying habit of dying back, or
even dying altogether. It can be pruned heavily but you should be
aware that after they reach 15 years or so they tend to become
unstable, with frequent troubles around the base. We've lost about 6
or 8 in the last few years and are expecting to lose the rest over the
next few years. We don't plant them any more because of this.

Ok, we did the dirty, and cut the whole crown off, leaving one good shoot
to grow from the bare trunk. We will be sorry to lose it, but it was a
disaster, so it's kill or cure. Thanks for the info everybody !!

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