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Messy and overgrown weigela - can I prune it now?
Pink678
Posts: 498
I have a weigela that looks messy and spindly, with long thin branches and a lot of bare wood underneath. It has both green and variegated leaves.
I missed the pruning time, which is supposed to be just after flowering I found out.
Part of the reason is it didn't have enough space to expand into, although the choisya next to it has been pruned back now so it has more space than before. Ideally I would like the weigela to be more bushy in shape.
Could I prune it now, or should I really wait until after it has flowered? And how how far down and how much should I cut it?
Many thanks.
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I'd start by cutting out completely all the pure green shoots as that is supposed to be a variegated weigelia. If you leave it be, it is likely to revert back to plain green.
Cut it back to whatever height you prefer as it will reshoot in the spring. You can also cut to the ground the oldest, thickest shoots as that will encourage new shoots which should carry more flowers.
By the way, 2 or 3 photos are usually sufficient.
I would certainly remove the reverted green shoots now, and also if now is the time you have for pruning, do it.
You will lose the flowers for the right time next year, but sometimes I think if you have to then it is worth losing a flowering season to get something in check or improve it.
Weigela is a very forgiving shrub which will put on new nice growth from the base.
And sometimes will still flower later in the year when the wood ripens.
We had flowers on late stems in August due to me having to hack some back at the "wrong" time last year.
It is nice to do things at the "correct" time, but sometimes if needs must, don't fret, just do it.
Oops edit:
Take out any thicker older stems . The idea is we should remove a third of old stems every few years.
But yours does not look very old.
Summarising what I will do:
- cut the green leaved stems all the way down as far as they go to the main stem.
- cut any old thick stems I can find, all the way down to ground level as you suggest. I had no idea I should be doing that.
- cut out any dead stems
- the rest of the stems, cut them back to the shape I want it to be. For this, is it OK it they are cut back into the wood without any leaves on?
I'm very glad to be able to do this now and get it under control.