In article ,
lid says...
Hi folks. I have an end-terrace house with garden on three sides, which was
planted with shrubs and old rose borders by the builders a few years ago, no
lawns.

Particularly in the end garden at the side of the house, the bushes and
shrubs have really got out of hand and I am getting less and less successful
at keeping it all down with a hedge trimmer etc. Plus the fact that getting
rid of the rubbish is a problem - the fortnightly green wheely bin isn't
enough. I would almost prefer lawns!!

I think it's got to the point when I need to get in a "proper" gardener
fairly soon to seriously hack it all back somewhat ruthlessly - and he'll
have a van etc. to take away all the offcuts. Not only would it tidy things
up, but I'm sure it would do most of the shrubs good and enable me to get in
there and feed them properly etc.

When is the best time to do this? At the moment it's all growing like mad
with all the rain, but presumably Oct or Nov it would all be dying back.

Would it be bad to do this now? It's so untidy now and I really can't cope
with it!

Thanks.

Barb (UK)



Make the shrubs smaller by removing a third of the stems completely each
year, remove the oldest stems and do it after each shrub flowers, after
the first 3 year cycle the shrubs will be much more managable. all the
prunings can be shredded and put straight back on the ground around the
shrubs.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea