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What would you do with this shrub ?leycesteria formosa

EmilyWEmilyW Posts: 5
in Plants
Hi am new to the forum. We have moved to a house with around 3 acres of garden and am on a steep learning curve! I have found several of these shrubs (in amongst the brambles....) that I think from google are Himalayan honeysuckle (leycesteria formosa?). They all look very overgrown probably from fighting for light with the afore mentioned brambles.Some are flopping over like the ones in the pic. Others are just very tall & thin. Would you just cut them all to the ground after flowering or do I need to prune them bit by bit? I don’t want to kill them.... thanks for any advice!

Posts

  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    I cut mine half way back once the birds have had the berries then, in the spring, cut to 12-18 inches high. It will quickly put on new growth.
    SW Scotland
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Prune it back, you won't kill it.
    I killed mine by trying to move it, but it seeds everywhere so all is not lost!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • EmilyWEmilyW Posts: 5
    Thanks Joyce21. Do you mean literally cut each stem half way up or cut the full length of half the stems out? Can you tell I am clueless! 
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    @Emfw97,  cut each stem half way up.
    SW Scotland
  • EmilyWEmilyW Posts: 5
    Great thanks so much
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
     :) 
    SW Scotland
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Clear round them first to give them light and air and give them a feed after cutting back. I mulch mine in Spring. Mine don't self seed so it might be worth keeping some seed on a just-in-case basis.
  • ERICS MUMERICS MUM Posts: 627
    EmilyW said:
    Thanks Joyce21. Do you mean literally cut each stem half way up or cut the full length of half the stems out? Can you tell I am clueless! 
    It’s a good question actually.  Some shrubs are pruned by taking out from the bottom a proportion (for example one-third) of shoots/branches each year.  
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Well, I would look at the plant. If it is very dense and vigorous I would thin out old and crowded shoots to open up the centre. But with well grown healthy L F I would cut it all down to about 12 inches.
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    I've let mine grow tall. The shrub height is about 2 meters now, and the thickest stem is perhaps 5cm in diameter, but I imagine the specimen is at least 10 years old and probably more. I like it better than cutting back, it gives some elegant height, and can easily be pruned to maintain a certain outline. Mine grows through a choisya. Different options are available with this plant! It self-seeds a lot here.
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