Hi,
I don't know anything about gardening and need some advice on some bushes/shrubs in my mother's garden.
We have a rectangular shaped garden with a soil bed on the right hand side that runs the length of the garden and a lawn to the left of it.
In the bed there are about 5 shrubs/bushes that I feel are either too large, planted in the wrong place or growing onto the lawn (I have taken quite a few photographs of them as I am unsure what they all are, if you can/want to help and want to see the photographs I can email them to you no problems, I don't think I can post them on this thread).
I have some questions on these shrubs:
1. We have 2 buddleia's that hang over the lawn too much and I want to know whether we can cut them back now and if so then how to cut them safely so that the same problem doesn't occur next year. One of them has purple flowers and the other has yellow flowers, the yellow-flowered one hasn't actually produced flowers yet this year but the buds are out.
2. One of the buddleia's and also another shrub with brown hardy stems and pink flowers (I don't know what it is called but have decent photographs if you need them) are both hanging over the lawn and this seems to be because they are growing out of the ground in a direction towards the lawn. Is this because they need a lot of light as there is a fence, and some taller plants from the next-door neighbour that may be blocking them. If they don't need that much light then I presume they just grew out this way so then is it safe to take these plants out and turn them around so that they grow towards the fence and away from the lawn?
3. There is bush with fairly thick green stems, nettle-plant shaped leaves and yellow flowers (again I can provide photos) which has grown out of control. It is quite high, about 5-6ft tall, and is taking up too much space. It makes the garden look too full and does not allow space for small flowers and perennials. Can this be cut back now and how do I cut it back, is there a method? I did in fact cut some of the stems off near the bottom so that it cleared some room near the ground allowing me to plant some flowers, I hope this didn't do too much damage.
4. Last question; there is a shrub with bright red flowers and thorny stems (photos available though I have been told by my mum that it is Japonica) at the front of the soil bed and it intrudes on the patio. As it is thorny as well I feel it should be moved to another spot in the bed. Can I do this now at this time of year? It is flowering at the moment though. If not then when is best?
I hope someone can help.
Thank you,
Sil.
I don't really know about the specific plants you mentioned in your post, but most shrubs take well to being moved or pruned in the fall. Some shrubs can be moved or pruned any time during the year, but you're almost always safe doing it during the fall. The exception would be pruning a plant that blooms during the spring on new growth. Those shrubs you want to prune immediately after flowering is finished.
My solution for the shrubs that hang over the lawn would be to remove the lawn that grows under the branches of the shrub. I would create a graceful curved edge on the lawn, perhaps even a gentle S-shape. You can lay out a garden hose along the border and try various curves, until you find one you feel is pleasing.
When I prune a shrub, I look for the spots (sorry, senior moment, forgot the proper word!) where the new shoots will sprout once I remove part of a branch. I make my cut just above a spot where the new shoots will be forced to grow in the direction I want.
I wouldn't just move the shrubs by the fence so that they face the other direction. That won't solve the problem. I have shrubs like you describe, and I just keep them growing upward by using careful pruning methods.
HTH!
My solution for the shrubs that hang over the lawn would be to remove the lawn that grows under the branches of the shrub. I would create a graceful curved edge on the lawn, perhaps even a gentle S-shape. You can lay out a garden hose along the border and try various curves, until you find one you feel is pleasing.
When I prune a shrub, I look for the spots (sorry, senior moment, forgot the proper word!) where the new shoots will sprout once I remove part of a branch. I make my cut just above a spot where the new shoots will be forced to grow in the direction I want.
I wouldn't just move the shrubs by the fence so that they face the other direction. That won't solve the problem. I have shrubs like you describe, and I just keep them growing upward by using careful pruning methods.
HTH!