The house we just bought has a monster forsythia in the back yard that
clearly has not been attended to in a long time. We're talking 40 ft
by 20 ft by 10 ft tall. We want to scale it back to a more reasonable
sized, but we're not sure how to go about it. Hand tools would take
forever. I could attack it with power tools---would a hedge clipper or
chain saw be better? Any suggestions about dealing with this out of
control monster would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance,
Lotofun

Ohmigosh! I just planted some (for the first time) and I hope they get this
big! I can't help you with pruning yours, though I'll be watching to see
what the responses will be...


"Lot-o-fun" wrote in message
...
The house we just bought has a monster forsythia in the back yard that
clearly has not been attended to in a long time. We're talking 40 ft
by 20 ft by 10 ft tall. We want to scale it back to a more reasonable
sized, but we're not sure how to go about it. Hand tools would take
forever. I could attack it with power tools---would a hedge clipper or
chain saw be better? Any suggestions about dealing with this out of
control monster would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance,
Lotofun

definitely take a chain saw to it. it will resprout from the base and then you can
try to manage it. it wont bloom for a couple years tho. we had to do this to my
mothers forsythia. Ingrid

"Lot-o-fun" wrote in message
...
The house we just bought has a monster forsythia in the back yard that
clearly has not been attended to in a long time. We're talking 40 ft
by 20 ft by 10 ft tall. We want to scale it back to a more reasonable
sized, but we're not sure how to go about it. Hand tools would take
forever. I could attack it with power tools---would a hedge clipper or
chain saw be better? Any suggestions about dealing with this out of
control monster would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance,
Lotofun




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I just read that you are supposed to prune spring bloomers like forsythias
right after they bloom. If you wait longer than two or three weeks, you will
cut off new buds set for next year's flowers.


"Lot-o-fun" wrote in message
...
The house we just bought has a monster forsythia in the back yard that
clearly has not been attended to in a long time. We're talking 40 ft
by 20 ft by 10 ft tall. We want to scale it back to a more reasonable
sized, but we're not sure how to go about it. Hand tools would take
forever. I could attack it with power tools---would a hedge clipper or
chain saw be better? Any suggestions about dealing with this out of
control monster would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance,
Lotofun

yes. and like lilacs normally only cut 1/3 of the growth, starting with the oldest
canes. Ingrid

"cb" wrote:

I just read that you are supposed to prune spring bloomers like forsythias
right after they bloom. If you wait longer than two or three weeks, you will
cut off new buds set for next year's flowers.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan