How to prune this Viburnum?

CraighB · December 2020

Hi guys,

I inherited this Viburnum with our new house and it looks a bit of a mess and there are some quite old looking branches.

How do I go about pruning it? Would it be to rejuvenate it by chopping out a third of the older stems?

Also how do I shape it? Where do I cut back to?

Cheers

Craigh

Dovefromabove · December 2020

In March I would cut out that thick old stem at the base. That will encourage new stems to grow and rejuvenate the shrub.

In future you can remove the oldest stems (up to a third of the oldest stems) every few years ... otherwise they’re best left alone. Pruning from the top and shortening the stems results in a loss of flowers and an ugly ‘shaving brush’ effect.

Love Viburnum Bodnantense ... one of my favourite shrubs. Mine’s in full bloom at the moment, right by my sitting room window. Loved by the bluetits and a wren who hunt for little spiders in the rough bark.

CraighB · December 2020

Thanks @Dovefromabove I love it too. It smells lovely! Yet other people say it smells of pee!

So you would leave the other branches towards the top to keep that more wild look?

Dovefromabove · December 2020

Yes I’d leave them ... I like flowering shrubs to be in their natural shape if possible, rather than having them all pruned to a rather controlled looking bog-brush shape ... I’m sometimes think there’s some folk with a new pair of secateurs and too much time on their hands in some gardens that I see ... looks a bit ‘control freaky’ to me 😉
There’s such a variety of ‘growth shapes’ amongst the various shrubs and plants that we grow in our gardens ... it’s a shame to treat them all the same.

Allotment Boy · December 2020

Or worse the "mow & blow" brigade of so called jobbing gardeners that attack everything with power hedge cutters, so it looks like one of the thatched beach shades on the Spanish Costas.
Sometimes you might have to sacrifice a seasons flowers to get the structure you want depending on how drastic you have to be.

CraighB · December 2020

Maybe it looks more messy because it has an overgrown clematis grown through it so it looks a bit of a mess.

With th clematis is it best to also leave that for now to see what type of clematis it is? Or can I at least prune it back a little bit without affecting the flowering?

Dovefromabove · December 2020

If you cut the clematis back now you’ll lose the flowers and then we’ll never know what type it is. If it’s a later flowered one you’ll be able to cut it back every winter ... 🤞
I would wait until it flowers and then post another pic for us 😊

Cambridgerose12 · December 2020

Yes, beware totally of doing the 'bog-brush' thing, which seems to be what municipal gardeners are now told to do (judging by our local municipal plantings). It's particularly problematic with this genus because they flower on older wood, so if you give it a short back and sides each year, it will never flower.

This hybrid grows very upright and the strong, rugged stems can be a feature; it also flowers more on the old wood, so I'd be cautious about how much you remove. In any event, prune after flowering, in the spring, so as not to lose flowers, and just as Dovefromabove says, cut out only the oldest stems right to the base, to encourage more long stems to come up. Those will not flower their first year, but will flower afterwards. It's called renewal pruning.I can only see one stem in there that I'd be tempted to remove at all, and if it were in my garden I think I'd take off all the stuff surrounding and on it first, to have a better sense of its shape and structure before you do anything. With pruning, like sculpting, less is more!

How to prune this Viburnum?

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