Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Viburnum identification and pruning advice

mmsj496mmsj496 Posts: 70
in Problem solving
I inherited this viburnum (tinus?) when I moved in - see picture.

It is evergreen and has flowered in the past (white, fragrant flowers).  I know they flower on old wood, but can someone help me identify the cultivar, and when best to prune please?  It is getting quite bushy now, and losing its shape.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wouldn't be able to ID the variety, although @Silver surfer probably could.
    It's not burkwoodii anyway  ;)
    Pruning would normally be done  in spring after flowering. Evergreen ones can be done at almost any time. You'd just lose the next lot of flowers, possibly for a couple of years depending on the vigour. Ideally, after flowering is best though, so that you minimise that.
    The other alternative is the 3 year method used for regenerating older less productive shrubs. You take around a third of stems out completely, right back to the base, and do the same in the following two years, so that the whole shrub is renewed over a three year period. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • mmsj496mmsj496 Posts: 70
    Thanks Fairygirl.  Although it did not flower this year, I pruned it after it should have done.  The growth you can see is new growth since then.  It has been kept in a fairly neat cube shape, but I am now tempted to leave it as see if it will flower next year (or the year after).
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited August 2021
    The thing about viburnums [and many other shrubs] is that they don't grow in a naturally rounded mound shape. Its always better to prune so that they have as natural an outline as possible. Many of them become very large shrubs  :)

    You might be constantly pruning off potential flowering stems too, so it might be better to leave it for a while and see how it performs, then follow the three year method so that you can rejuvenate it completely, but you'll also get some flowering in spring. 
      
    I think it may well be a tinus, and most can certainly get to a large size. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • mmsj496mmsj496 Posts: 70
    Thank you :smiley:
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    edited August 2021
    It looks more like a Honeysuckle to me. If Lonicera Japonica, you should prune it after flowering. You can take some long growth back to how much you like, but if you go back too far, you may lose flowers next year. Thin out some and leave the rest and you should get flowers next year.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Think you're right @Borderline.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • mmsj496mmsj496 Posts: 70
    The flowers it has had in the past were definitely viburnum :smile:
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Sometimes you have to sacrifice flowers  for a season in order to get the structure you want.  I agree that pruning just after flowering is the best.  
    AB Still learning

Sign In or Register to comment.