Taming the monster forsythia

[Lot-o-fun]

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

[Beth Pierce]

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...

[dr-solo]

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at

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[cb]

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.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at

up: 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