What to do with this Forsythia, which is coming over.

Hi all,
Sounds pretty obvious, but why should I do with this large forsythia which has come over due to gravity and is nearly on the lawn?
It seems the previous owners had the the base held together with plastic wire, in an attempt to stop this happening?
Should I just cut it right back now, or leave it till later?
Should I just take a bit off it and try to “prop” it up somehow?
Thanks for any advice.

 

I'd hack it back hard, would have been better done a couple of months ago but you still have time.
It may not flower well next year though.

 

I agree with Pete, just hack it back, they're tough as old boots.

 

When you say hack it back hard, how far do you mean? right to the base?
Is this an ok time of the year to do it? Will it take a long while to recover?
(sorry for all the questions)

 

It's a bit difficult to tell from your first photo whether that's all one plant or two different ones close together?
If it's all one plant, the objective would be to retain some of the upright branches and take out any leaning to the front so firstly I would cut that horizontal one in the first photo back to the bend where it starts to go sideways. Then perhaps cut back the others to maybe 2-3 ft high,
doing that gradually and stepping back to have a good look frequently. Take any of the oldest branches back to ground level first. You want to leave about 5 good stems as upright as possible, at slightly different heights to give a more natural look.
Water it well afterwards and perhaps give it a feed. You should find that it will start resprouting within a month or so, depending on how hot it gets.
Good luck.

 

IME @lizzie27 forsythia respond well to hard pruning once flowering finishes. It's a little late for this year but you could still cut to the base any branches leaning or growing the wrong way and then shorten others to improve the shape. You'll get few flowers next year but it will be a better shrub.

 

I would prune it now and take a chance on losing next spring's flowers. It'll be better in the long run.

First I would take out that thick old stem that's almost horizontal, right back close to the base (see the red line that I've added to your picture). Then the same for other thick old stems, particularly ones that are that are leaning forward. If you have younger, thinner vertical branches I would leave those and they will flower next year (are the ones I've circled in yellow part of the forsythia? I can't quite make it out. If so, keep those).

To my mind, forsythias shouldn't be big solid blobby shrubs that are clipped like hedges or topiary, but should be allowed to grow those long young upright/arching stems that will carry the best flowers, with ageing branches pruned out to keep an open graceful habit.

 

Just to give some confidence on it's ability to grow back, I took this one down to a very low framework this spring.

This was an awful woody mess, spreading everywhere with very few flowers.

I can't advise on timing, but it came back a treat.

 

Just an update,
Got round to starting today, it obviously isn’t going to stay like the current photo, but what would you do?
I’m thinking just take the whole lot down to ground level? Then hopefully it will come back and I can keep on top of it properly going forward? The long thin upright branches, just look leggy, sparse and very untidy, so should I just cut them back and be done with it?
Secondly…. The large tree/shrub next to it, think it’s cytisus? Now looks really open and bare as the forsythia blended into it, do we think this should go at some point? Tidy the area up and start from scratch?
Think someone said the cytisus doesn’t do well if you prune it hard? Others at the front of the house have certainly died after a prune.
Thanks.

 

Pruned or not, cytisus are short lived shrubs and very dull for about 50 weeks of the year so I would concentrate your efforts on sorting out the forsythia which flowers a wee mite longer. Take out any branches going the wrong way so that you are left with a manageable set of stumps.

They will grow new shoots, especially if you improve the soil with some organic matter. I would leave those young twiggy things for this year as they'll flower next year and then can be removed.