Is my gardenia ruined?

[sdirosa]

Hello all, I am very new to gardening and often hire someone to help with things I feel unknowledgeable about, such as pruning. We recently moved into a new house with years of unmaintained landscaping. Our guy cleared much out, which is great, but also hacked the gardenia (among other things). Everything I'm reading now says to only prune it after the blooming season and that too much pruning can stunt growth. It looks like he mowed the top of it off and left a few inches of leaves. Will it be okay? Will we just lose blooms for this season? Thanks so much for your advice.

[bullthistle]

Obviously he didn't know plants which should be a lesson learned. It should be okay maybe feed it by digging around the base and adding compost or manure or maybe the whole area because more then likely nothing had been done for a while. Might want to add some 10-10-10. More then likely it will not bloom this year depending on the severity.

[VAMOM2003]

I don't know if this helps, but I have one in a pot outside and a few years ago I forgot to cover it on a really cold night.
The next day, all the tips were basically burnt off from the cold winds. That summer I still had some blooms from the new shots that grew that spring.

I don't fertilize it, just add some compost in the spring and also add coffee grounds on a regular basis (once every 2-3 weeks)

[uniquegardenplants]

Should be fine, I hard prune ours almost back to the ground to within 15-20 inches every few years in order to maintain a tighter growth habit. Ideally should be done after flowering. You may loose a few blooms this year, but may also gain a more full and thick plant later in the season. Gardenia's will flower a bit on new growth too so not all is lost!