"crom" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

Can anyone offer me some advice about these two plants. We moved into
an old house where the garden has been left to go a little wild(!) We
didn't do much to the plant life last year (waiting to see what would
appear etc) but now have some firm plans.

There is a hebe that has got very woody and patchy but still has new,
healthy shoots appearing now about 2 feet off the ground. The
gardening book we have says 'gentle clipping in March'. But is it
possible to cut is back hard and encourage growth from the woody
stems?

The same question about the honeysuckle really. This too has plenty of
twisted, woody stems - very thick in places - and no foliage until you
get to about 4-5 feet from the ground.

Can't help on the Hebe but AFAIK you can hack honesuckle around pretty
brutally and it will grow back.

ISTR we got ours as a chopped hunk of stem and root from someone else and it
grew out just fine.

If in doubt, chop back 50% of the stems this year and see if they grow back.

If not, you can just guide new growth back down to cover the bare bits near
the base - honeysuckle wanders all over the place.

HTH
Dave R