I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.
They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top.
My concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they
may not survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will
get out of hand. Any comments?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sun, 7 Apr 2013 17:58:49 +0100 (BST), wrote:


I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.
They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top.
My concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they
may not survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will
get out of hand. Any comments?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I always used to chop them back to about a foot from the ground in
late March. All I did the preceding year was to prune off dead flower
heads (to encourage more). Somehow the dead wood always produced
shoots again.

I dug the big ones up last year though and planted the dwarf "Buzz"
varieties for more colour variation in a given area. I chopped these
back at the beginning of March to stumps and they are shooting nicely
now.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East end of Swansea Bay where it got
dark today an hour earlier than a week ago!

On 07/04/2013 17:58, wrote:
I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.
They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top.
My concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they
may not survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will
get out of hand. Any comments?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Leave them at 3', and take cuttings from what grows this year. Then
after the cuttings have rooted, replace the old plant if it is too leggy.

--

Jeff

On Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:14:00 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 07/04/2013 17:58, wrote:
I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.
They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top. My
concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they may not
survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will get out of hand.
Any comments?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Leave them at 3', and take cuttings from what grows this year. Then
after the cuttings have rooted, replace the old plant if it is too
leggy.

They are easy to strike. But I cut one back well into old wood a few
years ago, and it croaked. It still lives on from a cutting, but I think
I need to take some more as it's getting overwhelmed by a pyracantha.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On Sunday, 7 April 2013 17:58:49 UTC+1, wrote:
I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.

They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top.

My concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they

may not survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will

get out of hand. Any comments?





Regards,

Nick Maclaren.

Leave it alone for now - It won't get out of hand this year, but in any case it won't be too late to prune it when you see where the new growth comes from and you'll be able to prune out any damage.
I assume we're talking about the 'davidii'' group that flower on current years growth rather than things like B.alternifolia that flower on the previous years growth.

Rod

In article ,
Rod wrote:

I cut them back to 3' in the autumn, but they have suffered badly.
They aren't dead, but most of the live shoots are near the top.
My concern is that, if I cut them back into very old wood, they
may not survive it. If I don't cut them back hard, they will
get out of hand. Any comments?

Leave it alone for now - It won't get out of hand this year, but
in any case it won't be too late to prune it when you see where the
new growth comes from and you'll be able to prune out any damage.

Thanks. My concern is that it will shoot from the top, which will
make the problem worse for next year. I had to get rid of one
after a few years of that, which is why I have been pruning hard.

I assume we're talking about the 'davidii'' group that flower on
current years growth rather than things like B.alternifolia that
flower on the previous years growth.

Yup.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.