"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
In article , MacCavity
writes
If I hack it back now am I doing more harm than good?


I lop everything that's flowered off after flowering time but find that it
doesn't grow too much until April and then flowers on growth it puts on
just before it flowers. So I personally would hack it about now. Mind you
if you need to take off a lot then maybe do a third now and then a third
after flowering or half so you don't shock the poor thing too much. i keep
Belle Etoile commonly a zonking great thing, to a nice tidy five feet and
fairly compact next to the front door.
--
My experience with my philadelpus was that it flowered on old wood. After
it was cut off at ground level by my neighbour it took a while for it to
make shoots anyway and didn't flower on them until the following year.
It was a really big one and I was surprised it recovered at all.

Tina