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Taming a massive Cotinus

nickoslesterosnickoslesteros Posts: 178
in Problem solving
So - progressing with my odyssey of taming the overgrown shrubs in my garden I have come face to face with my large Cotinus. 

My RHS pruning book tells me to prune in spring before growth, but can I do much harm in getting this back under control now?

How far should I go?

Many thanks  :)


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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    If you cut it very hard in Spring, you'll get masses of new growth, with much larger leaves too. 
    It won't do any hard to cut it now.
    Devon.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Mine has got out of control too. As it’s approaching its dormancy period I have taken it down to a low framework about a foot high. It’s quite mild here over winter so I’m happy to take the risk.  I’ve seen enough autumn colour in the foliage but you may prefer to wait until you’ve seen this.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    That's still a baby, ours is upto the top of the second floor windows with a trunk, thicker than your leg. 

    They do take a good prune though, so you can be quite ruthless is you wish to be in spring
  • nickoslesterosnickoslesteros Posts: 178
    @Plantminded - I'm in Wirral too, so possibly I will cut back a bit over next week or so (waiting for some new chipper blades to arrive first!)

    @Hostafan1 cheers - I will definitely take some down now, as its making it hard to mow the lawn :)

    @thevictorian ha fair enough. Thought mine was large! I don't mind the size, it's just encroaching a little.. 
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    Our's got pruned by a freak mini-tornado. It was a 15 foot tree and was reduced to a 5 foot tall trunk. I cut off all remaining branches intending to cut the bare trunk down the following Spring. I was amazed when it threw out shoots so left it to grow, it is once again a 15 foot tree which I need to cut back. Here is the trunk with new growth and a bee swarm the summer after it was damaged. The house behind is now completely obscured by the tree.


  • nickoslesterosnickoslesteros Posts: 178
    @steephill I salute you for getting that close! How long did it take to get from that to where you are now? 
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    It is about 12 years now but the tree has been at mature height and spread for a few years already. You would never know it had been so badly damaged in the past.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @nickoslester93f3fKIn I grew Cotinus Grace in my old garden. It has more of a lax habit than some of the others I was always puzzled when it came to pruning. One year I cut it back hard and as @Hostafan1 mentions lots of new large leaves but no 'smoke'. It couldn't support it's self. By August branches were laying along the ground covering other plants, so I removed some lower branches. Fairly successful but revelled lots of old leaves that had been hidden from the sun.
     Then I was lucky to meet James Alexander Sinclair, he suggested cuttting back at different heights and it worked. C Grace is the star of any border in Autumn backlit with sun it rivals the Acers in my opinion but needs a sheltered site so that the new growh doesn't snap.
    This is one of those gardening problems that you cannot resolve by looking in a book and it was something I wanted an answer to for years.
    The down side of spring pruning is the time it takes to get going again. An underplanting of bulbs is a good idea need to cover a large empty area.
    Eventually I said goodbye to Grace and replaced with C coggygria Royal Purple which I hope is doing much better now.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    I was thinking of removing my Cotinus next year due to its lax tendency of growth. However, your note @GardenerSuze and your photo @Loxley have persuaded me to be patient and have another go, so thank you both (and James Alexander Sinclair)!  
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


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