Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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we bought our house 5 years ago and inherited a somewhat overgrown garden. I spent the 1st year trying to get some of the large bushes tamed and then followed 2 have 2 kids so I haven’t done much more than try and get ontop of the ever reoccurring brambles!
anyway I’ve got back out ther loppers in hand this year and have cut down quite low a choysia and Japanese quince. But I’m now trying to decide what to do with this yellow bush Jasmine. All I’ve done is lightly prune it over the years but it quite massive now, comes out about 5ft from the stem and about 3 of that is over the lawn. I’ve cut off some of the ground level branches but as you can see it’s alot of long muddled stems all growing forward searching for light. Hopefully cutting the choysia will help give more light.
how would you recommend I overhaul this bush as I do love it. Hard prune to near ground level of more of a lighter prune keeping to the green?
I have a few trees and a north facing garden, so while it gets a lot of sun in the summer is all the plant grow forward trying to get more light, as you can see with the jasmine and this pheasant berry plant, I’ve seen these nice and bush in other gardens rather than leggy forward facing. Anything you could recommend that would grow well in clay and not getting a lot of all day sun? I’ve not made much of a mark here, digging is hard when rhe soils dry and there are so many roots and rubble too!
Thanks, Amy
Hi Lee,
we bought our house 5 years ago and inherited a somewhat overgrown garden. I spent the 1st year trying to get some of the large bushes tamed and then followed 2 have 2 kids so I haven’t done much more than try and get ontop of the ever reoccurring brambles!
anyway I’ve got back out ther loppers in hand this year and have cut down quite low a choysia and Japanese quince. But I’m now trying to decide what to do with this yellow bush Jasmine. All I’ve done is lightly prune it over the years but it quite massive now, comes out about 5ft from the stem and about 3 of that is over the lawn. I’ve cut off some of the ground level branches but as you can see it’s alot of long muddled stems all growing forward searching for light. Hopefully cutting the choysia will help give more light.
how would you recommend I overhaul this bush as I do love it. Hard prune to near ground level of more of a lighter prune keeping to the green?
I have a few trees and a north facing garden, so while it gets a lot of sun in the summer is all the plant grow forward trying to get more light, as you can see with the jasmine and this pheasant berry plant, I’ve seen these nice and bush in other gardens rather than leggy forward facing. Anything you could recommend that would grow well in clay and not getting a lot of all day sun? I’ve not made much of a mark here, digging is hard when rhe soils dry and there are so many roots and rubble too!
Thanks for your question, could you upload some pics please so we can see the shrubs and plans in question. You can resize them here if they are over 3mb.
Thanks for your question, could you upload some pics please so we can see the shrubs and plans in question. You can resize them here if they are over 3mb.
Hi, thanks for the reply, I guess the image size was an issue! The advert was covering half the webpage on my phone so I was struggling to see what was going on!first 3 pics should be the jasmine and other is Himalayan honeysuckle. I have since shaped it a bit with hedge shears. I will cut it back much more if you think it would benefit the shrub though, I just don’t want to kill it, I’ve struggled finding much info on ‘bush jasmine’ online so haven’t been sure what to really do with it.
Hi, thanks for the reply, I guess the image size was an issue! The advert was covering half the webpage on my phone so I was struggling to see what was going on!first 3 pics should be the jasmine and other is Himalayan honeysuckle. I have since shaped it a bit with hedge shears. I will cut it back much more if you think it would benefit the shrub though, I just don’t want to kill it, I’ve struggled finding much info on ‘bush jasmine’ online so haven’t been sure what to really do with it.
Many thanks for the pictures, the Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa) is gorgeous by the way and defo save this one (purple hanging flower).
I'd be quite brutal if I were you and undertake some hard maintenance pruning. Clearing the lower parts of those main branches and taking up to 50% of the other growth back (1/3 of the growth is more conservative way to do it if unsure) to a suitable outward-facing shoot or branch. Do this in winter so you can see what you're doing and because the shrubs will be dormant and won't bleed as much.
Here is my hard pruning demonstration in winter.
https://youtu.be/a6kz7ou_32c
DO's:
Time it right - Late winter/early spring before buds break (February-March for most shrubs)
Go gradual - Remove no more than 1/2 to 1/3 of growth in one go, spread major renovation over 2-3 years
Clean your tools - Sharp, disinfected secateurs prevent disease spread
Cut to outward-facing buds - Encourages open, healthy growth pattern
Remove the 4 D's first - Dead, diseased, damaged, and crossing branches
Feed after pruning - Give them a good meal to fuel new growth
DON'Ts:
Don't scalp everything - Going too hard too fast can kill the plant or create weak, spindly growth
Don't prune spring bloomers after June - You'll lose next year's flowers (looking at you, lilac lovers!)
Don't ignore the weather - Avoid pruning during frost or when rain's forecast
Don't assume all shrubs are the same - Hydrangeas, roses, and evergreens all have different rules
When in doubt, take less off! You can always go back for more, but you can't stick branches back on. Better a slightly overgrown shrub than a dead one!
Many thanks for the pictures, the Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa) is gorgeous by the way and defo save this one (purple hanging flower).
I'd be quite brutal if I were you and undertake some hard maintenance pruning. Clearing the lower parts of those main branches and taking up to 50% of the other growth back (1/3 of the growth is more conservative way to do it if unsure) to a suitable outward-facing shoot or branch. Do this in winter so you can see what you're doing and because the shrubs will be dormant and won't bleed as much.
Here is my hard pruning demonstration in winter.
DO's:
Time it right - Late winter/early spring before buds break (February-March for most shrubs)
Go gradual - Remove no more than 1/2 to 1/3 of growth in one go, spread major renovation over 2-3 years
Clean your tools - Sharp, disinfected secateurs prevent disease spread
Cut to outward-facing buds - Encourages open, healthy growth pattern
Remove the 4 D's first - Dead, diseased, damaged, and crossing branches
Feed after pruning - Give them a good meal to fuel new growth
DON'Ts:
Don't scalp everything - Going too hard too fast can kill the plant or create weak, spindly growth
Don't prune spring bloomers after June - You'll lose next year's flowers (looking at you, lilac lovers!)
Don't ignore the weather - Avoid pruning during frost or when rain's forecast
Don't assume all shrubs are the same - Hydrangeas, roses, and evergreens all have different rules
When in doubt, take less off! You can always go back for more, but you can't stick branches back on. Better a slightly overgrown shrub than a dead one!
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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