"beccabunga" wrote:

They usually need little care, apart from pruning out the flowered
stems, cutting back to new growth if possible. Try thinning it a bit,
taking out around a third of the old stems. We have two in the garden
which seem to do fine without more attention than that.

Today has been the first day I have had chance to have a close look at this.

I assume from what you said that it flowers on last years growth. I find it
hard to tell what is old and new growth**. It all looks pretty much the same
to me. Though I do note that those stems that have had flowers on have
darker leaves than those without. Are these the ones that need to go? The
ones with the lighter leaves being the 'new growth'.

I also note that there is another plant growing close to it and up through
it. I have no idea what it is**. It is likely something that has set itself.
There is an image at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/astral....p/picture1.jpg

Would it be a good idea to rip this out and avoid any competion between it
and the Deutzia scabra?

TIA

** You have to allow for that fact that understanding my competance as a
gardener requires you to recall the most inept gardener that it has been
your misfortune to meet, multiply their ineptness by at least a factor of
ten, and then you might be coming close to me - but still falling short.

Mel