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Hebe

Help, i have a beautiful Hebe which is currently still in flower but it's getting too big and i need to trim it, ideally to half it size. Should i trim a third now and then again in Spring or leave it until Spring to trim hard or trim it hard now?  i'm nervous to trim it hard now before winter as it may not recover.

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Pruning them back hard doesn't always work, as they sometimes just keel over and die.
    It's better to remove individual stems right back, and you can then make the shrub slimmer.
    If you trim back carefully after flowering each year, that will keep it at a reasonable size. At this time of year, it's always risky though, but if you have no immediate frosts forecast, you could trim back very lightly, and then do the same next year a couple of times - only taking a small amount each time. You'll lose the flowers, but that will gradually reduce the height overall. 
    Alternatively - move it to a better site so that it needs no pruning at all other than after flowering  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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