In message , Bob F
writes
My friend has a plant that is growing up to 10 feet high. She is
wondering if she could cut it back to maybe a foot high this next
winter, and expect it to survive and hopefully thrive and flower as a
somewhat smaller plant. Does anyone know if forsythia can handle this
kind of abuse?

Bob


Forsythias can be pruned hard. If I recall correctly the usual advice to
cut back one third of the canes each year.

I have seen Forsythias trimmed to shape, but this tends to inhibit
flowering.

Pruning of Forsythias is normally done after flowering - it flowers on
the previous year's wood, so that later it is pruned, the more flowers
that you lose. It would seem better to prune it now, rather than wait
till winter.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley