Veseys

Gardeners’ Forum: “Older Forsythia Question”

• Older Forsythia Question

  Posted by Gord Watson on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 10:12 pm ADT

  I have a forsythia bush that is about 20-22 years old ,, over the last 5 years or so we've had very little flowering , but as the spring goes on , it always is green. I picked this bush to be the first planted when we moved into our house as i had one planted in my birth home and loved the fact that it was the first to flower and heralded the coming of the warm weather Could my bush be to old now to bloom yellow ,, we have the odd one but very little. Is there anything that i can do to get it to flower again??? Please help me help my friend bloom again. Thanks Gord Watson Ontario , Canada

  • re: Older Forsythia Question

    Posted by Cryssie on Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:16 pm ADT

    what you may need to do is trim it back.. thats what i had to do to mine its about 20 years as well.. 2 years ago we cut it off flush to the ground now its back looking great and blooming... now you might not want to cut it back that low but deffinately give it a hair cut.. take a couple to 5 inches off all over and she will be good as new next year.. and if you want trim it again then after blooming always.. and it will look great..

  • re: Older Forsythia Question

    Posted by Gord Watson on Monday, May 14, 2007 8:24 pm ADT

    Thanks for the reply Cryssie ,, what time of the year would you suggest doing this trim??

  • re: Older Forsythia Question

    Posted by Stephanie on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 5:35 pm ADT

    The general rule of pruning ANYTHING is to not remove more than a one third of the plant at a time. This leaves enough living tissue for the plant to overcome the pruning stress and produce new shoots. While it is possible to severely cut back a forsythia and have it re-grow, there is the possibility that it won't recover. I recommend removing 1/3 of the oldest shoots at ground level. This cleans up the shrub, opens up room for new growth and keeps the forsythia looking tidy. Prune in the spring after flowering.

  • re: Older Forsythia Question

    Posted by George on Friday, May 25, 2007 7:32 am ADT

    We had several Springs in a row where it was so cool that the Forsythia and the Cherries did not bloom at all--just went straight to leaf. All is well now and they have bloomed like crazy the past 2 yrs.