MOP: (Mock Orange Pruning) help please

A friend has offered me a mock Orange (Virginal)which I will have to dig up and take home. the thing is quite large and I want to reduce it down a bit to suit a spot in my garden. the books say it flowers on last years wood- how the hell do I tell what is last years wood - do I have to wait until it flowers and then look back for nodules/buds etc. I assume if I raze the thing to the ground it wont flower for the first year?

 

Hi there. I presume we are talking about a variety of philadelphus here. If you need to move it now, then you may lose the flowers this season anyway. I would not cut it back to ground level prior to moving. I would reduce by 2/3, and then lift with as much root ball as possible.
Ensure the ground it is going into is well prepared, and then keep it watered for the rest of the year.

 

They are a gorgeous plant - my parents have one and it's plastered in the most gorgeous-smelling and pretty flowers in the summer. I've just bought one and on the advice of the nursery owner will cut it back in a week or so, sacrificing this year's flowers for a bushier plant and more flowers next year (in the hopes that I don't end up having to move again and will be here to enjoy it! or if I do move, that whoever buys likes philadelphus).