Cutting back my Bridal Wreath

After the correct ID (thanks everyone!) .... I have gone from this .....



To this ...........






Now after hacking back as much as I could one side (arm ache!) I have noticed its incredibly hard to cut the thicker branches. Stupidly I thought I might be able to bend them enough to snap the branches, but with it all being wet from the rain this morning, the branch slipped out my hand and slapped me right up the neck and in the face :dh: So now I am all scratched and bruised :o


Anyway .... have noticed underneath there seems to be a lot of new shoots. You can see the wood is a lot paler in colour and the leaves a lot greener. Was wondering if I should cut it back completely and just leave the new shoots .....




What you guys reckons ?

Also - any idea how to cut the thicker branches ? Without hurting myself again!

 

You're rough with them Sam lol.

You can use a pair of branch loppers-maybe a tenner for a cheapo pair from B*Q, or a branch saw-I think I saw one in Tesco for a fiver.

 

Ahhh ok - am using shears at the moment !

Do you thnk I should carry on hacking it to death until I am left with the new shoots ? or still leave some old wood ?

 

I'd leave some living older stems, wouldn't want to give the plant too much of a shock! I would also make sure that the shrub still has a nice shape, perhaps not quite at the height/spread etc that you require, but something better than what was there!

Make sure that your cuts are clean cuts, so that the plant can't as easily pick up a disease, and I'd make sure to remove all the dead wood, (bits that are brown in the middle, not green).

So far so good! I bet thoughts of what can I do with the new bit of garden I've found are going through your head!

Hope this Helps!

 

Sheers are rubbish for thicker stuff. You can force them through but you just end up bending the blades and then they become next to useless. Get a good pair of tree loppers. I got an excellent one for about £20, I can use them for cutting branches about 2 inches thick which is ample for my needs. Anything bigger than that gets introduced to my mate Stan. (Stan is a bog standard rip saw made by Stanley).

 

Do you have a pair of secauteurs Sam? A good strong sharp pair should be able to get through those stems-how thick roughly is the thickest one?

 

Thanks all

Plant1star - might be a little late for your advice .... have hacked the living daylights out of it already ... oops ! Have left plenty of old wood on there for now as simply cant cut it. The cuts are nice clean cuts though .... and yes I have already gained a place for at least two new plants lol

Clueless - my mum told me to use shears .... tut wont listen to her again then! OH has a rip saw on his van am sure but as I have already sliced my finger on the shears and bruised and stratched all my face on the branches, I darent let myself loose on that !!

Claire - yes I have a few pairs of secauteurs which I have been using on the small bits but didnt want to damage them trying on the bigger stuff as the last ones I brought were about £20 so didnt want to ruin them! Whereas I only brought the shears to do this one job and they were only about £6 so not remotely bothered if they get bent out of shape! Although thinking about it now, if I had brought more expensive ones they might have done the job better.

Will post some more pics in a mo .... you can see how hacked it is lol

 

THE MESS !!!!




The plan now is to get something to cut the harder wood (diameter an inch or so but sooooo hard) and cut off all the older wood thats sticking out at the front still. Then maybe trim the top off a bit.

Only downside is that it now exposed more of our neighbours horrible debble dash wall and peeling fashia :( Will have to have a think what I can do with that!

 

You could go for something like this:
http://www.internetgardener.co.uk/ProductDetail/3096/Elite-Trellis--Trough-Wooden-Planter-Set.aspx

The one in the link is a bit pricey but you can similar products for a much cheaper price elsewhere. You could fill it with something cheap and fast growing and stand it in front of the patch of wall you don't like.

 

and there I was thinking "what a great wall", plenty of opportunity for new plants. Presumably next door will not be too happy if you drill into it.

You need to cut the shrub back some more. Buy those loppers as you will be needing then again in a few yers. Sheras are great for a light trim eg heathers, lavender, when you need to tidy up a shrub, so look after them for next year.

 

Well, you certainly told that plant didn't ya? lol.


I recommend you get those secauteurs out-this is exactly the sort of job they are for. You will need a sharpener for them anyway to keep them in good condition.

I would suggest you remove all the dead stems first, then take out about a third of the old thick stems to the ground, then take the rest down to knee height, then give a light feed with something general like fish blood and bone. Every now and then almost all shrubs benefit from a very hard pruning every few years. Next year you will get lots of fresh new light green growth. I would be wary of planting anything within three feet of it-it will cover that space by this time next year. Trimming won't do anything but take all the light new growth-you'll be left with exposed old gnarled woody stems-not attractive lol.

If you want to cover that wall then a hydrangea petiolaris will give it a good go for you-and as long as it has a few canes to introduce it to the wall, after that it won't need tying in as it is a natural climber and will suck itself to that wall.

It's gonna look really great there when you are done. Unfortunately this year you are going to see more of those walls but soon you won't notice them as all your lovely plants become the focus.

 

The lady is lovely actually, have put some lightweight trellis up the other side of the wall and she was fine. Its really a strange set up - many, many years ago (at least 50) a builder brought part of next doors garden (to my left) and part of ours and build himself a tiny one bed house with no garden ..... way before my time here obviously or I would never have sold it off ! We reffer to her as the lady at the end of the garden lol

Putting trellis or whatever up would be no problem. She would be more than happy if I offered to paint the fascia for her too most probably !

 

Thanks Claire.

Yes the intention is to remove all the old wood and just leave the majority of new. I think its been a long time since its been hacked back (ive been here 7 years and its been massive all of that time!). The old wood is so brittle in places so that definately needs to come out ..... its just getting to it without poking my eyes out lol

I already have 3 Hydrangea's growing on the other side of the wall. One has been in 4 years and the other two I planted this spring after moving some mad growing potote vine, Solanum crispum. It grew like crazy and I was having to hack it back almost weekly. It pulled all the trellis off the wall too !! Lovely plant but far too hard to keep under any control! It had to go in the end as I couldnt see the gate from the house which means I couldnt see if anyone had left the gate open before I let the dog out.

Its a shame the Hydrangea is so slow growing though. The one that I planted 4 years ago is only just starting to get to a decent size now! Will take some more photos today to see what everyone suggests

Will try with the secauteurs today and if not I will pop and set a saw or loppers ..... didnt realise you could sharpen secauteurs either .... have been throwing them away :o

 

Isn't it interesting how things go differently in different gardens-I put a petiolaris in earlier this year and it has already trebled in size-it is a warm wall it is growing against though and gets plenty of water.

I picked up a sharpener sometime ago-it is really a miniature butchers steel. I may have got it from B&Q but not sure as it is a long time ago now.


Good Luck.

 

The three I have planted are in the shade - hence why I put the hydrangea there as its the only thing I could find that climbs and survives in the shade. Thats probably why its taking so long to grow though!

Will have a look to see if I can find a sharpener, would save a fortune not having to keep buying new ones lol ..... mind you, thats If I dont loose them first :( Have a nasty habit of throwing them in my weeding pop up bag thing I have and then forget they are in there and throw it away!

One last cup of tea then im going to get going again ... see how much I can get done today before it rains !