Any tips on pruning ? I do mine after flowering but they still grow leggy. How do i prune to get a nice bush shape ? G
Weigeila, a wonderful shrub. Mine----I would NEVER prune into a "nice bush shape". I think that is sinful. I love the weepy effect they give. They are getting leggy--because they are upset and don't wish to be what you want them to be. If you want a bush to shape up you have chosen the wrong one. Go find a cottoneaster or a box wood and take your frustration out on them. By the way I have 10 of them. Two wine, one regular, and eight french lace.
I have an ancient Weigela, which hasn't been pruned for I don't know how many years if ever. So it looks a bit of a mess, a real jumble. Some stems a young, but some are thick and old. Can Weigela manage a hard pruning? Directly after flowering I suppose?
Weigelia does grow tall and straggly. You prune after flowering and can take them back by about a third. With old ones that have got out of hand it is best to consdier them a longer term project. Do the normal pruning on most of the branches but cut a few right down to see whether they sprout form the bottom. If you try this with the whole plant you may kill it from shock. If you start on weigelia when young thay can be trained to a certain extent. They can be kept fairly bushy by pruning by a third but some branches will get away from you. We have a number of weigelias that we keep to their normal growth but have trained two into standards. These would not have been suitable in the place they are without doing this. They have been trained by only keeping one main stem and removing all the lower branchings. They now remain about 6ft high with a flowering ball shaped head.
I have four in my garden but they seem to get over powered by Perenials and the other stuff that i have. I was hoping to prune to get more of a bush shape to aid them and stop them being drowned out. All the Weigeila that io have seen are not that stragly and make a lovely sustantive bush. So shall i cut back each branch by a third or go back harder ? All plants have been in the ground for 18 months. G
I wouldn't cut them now or you won't get any flower. You need to wait until they have finished flowering. Then cut them back by a third if you want them to bush out. If you want them taller before they bush out then let them grow a bit.
Shiney, I have seen shrubs done as you say "with the one main stem". Find them interesting in someone elses property where that type fits in better. For all my shrubs in general I will trim off little suckers and any branches that ---do that straight to heaven deal. Mr. Grinch, you say all your plants have only been in the ground for 18 months. I would never fuss with a plant that new to transplant to a new home. And I certainly would have measured out the proper future growth pattern of all of them for placement to not have any issues.
Redstar, I agree with you. Mr Grinch's ones are still small so need to be left to grow if they are to claim their own space alongside the perennials. At that size a light prune after flowering should be all that's necessary to help it bush out. Most of our weigelia are big and bushy but the 'standards' are alongside the path to the greenhouse so need to be contained. They look quite effective in that situation.
