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very old snowball bush

16 years ago

I have a very old snowball bush(was planted the day they finished building my house which was 1830)It is very gorgeous and very tall...about nine feet tall maybe more and about six feet wide...I have no idea how to prune this and it needs help.One side of it is very heavy and hangs to the ground.The other side is heavy also and ahngs to the ground but is not nearly as full as the other side.Any help would be very welcome.Thanks

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Comments (4)

duluthinbloomz4
16 years ago
Gets a little confusing as to whether the old snowballs are Hydrangeas or Viburnum Opulus . Consensus is Viburnum...

Prune after flowering is finished. Real old plants get woody at the base with few flowers down low. You can prune out one in five of the main stems at the base, starting with what looks to be the oldest. Neglected plants can be renovated by cutting all stems to near the ground. That's a little drastic for a plant that does well despite being over-grown so maybe a better solution would be to remove one or two of the older stems every year for a few years until the whole thing rejuvenates itself.

I can't find any info on any benefit to a light cutting back - taking out whole stems seems to be the pruning method for this shrub. You might post your question on the Shrubs Forum in the event someone has experience.
duluthinbloomz4
16 years ago
We're on the Shrubs Forum! Duh. I take my last sentence back.
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a sawzall would make it easy .. yes.. the largest 1/3 of the branches ... frankly.. if you wouldnt mind giving up bloom next year.. you could probably run it over with the truck.. and cut it all to 6 inches.. and with no damage to the root mass.. have a plant half as big by fall ... meaning.. have no fear .. sometimes i do a third now.. a third in fall.. and a third after bloom next year .. all the thirds is doing.. is allowing some branche to bloom over the period.. if you dont care.. do it all at once ... V are near indestructible.. so again.. put aside the fear part ... some sucker.. some dont... if you find them.. and you are sure they are suckers.. rather than seedlings.. then it should be true to form ... ken EDIT: some typos This post was edited by ken_adrian on Tue, May 20, 14 at 10:57
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Maybe you could cut it back, instead of down to the ground. Leave some stick length, a couple feet, with some leaves to feed the roots. It could still be shortened enough to let the workers get fence in and around, yet leave some of the bush to help it recover from the shock. Too bad this is so late in the year, but maybe with some help in leaving longer sticks, winter mulching, bush will make it for next year. Good luck with it.
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I would remove a lot of the old gray wood next March--cut the canes at the ground or at the graft if one is visible. Hopefully it will respond by making some strong shoots from the ground. It looks like this rose is best grown as a climber with all the strong shoots fastened to the fence. Tie them rather than weaving through the lattice. Create a fan pattern by leading the first canes low and almost horizontal, the next in a low arc above the first, etc. Having lots of cane nearly horizontal (or 45 degrees) will greatly increase the amount of bloom. Most roses have canes that are best trained after they have grown well out and become fibrous. Then they will bend without breaking. After it begins to get crowded again, remove a fraction of the oldest canes each year at the base, Do the main pruning in June after blooming to maximize the amount of bloom. You can also remove the stronger laterals (strong secondary shoots off the main canes) unless you need them to fill in. Cut the shorter laterals back to 2-3 leaves after blooming. The spots visible in pics 6 and 7 are blackspot disease, but the plant must be somewhat resistant or it would be defoliated by now. The foliage appears to be of modern type. The hooked thorns suggest the parentage includes climbing species. You can show us blooms and buds next May.
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Assuming it is a viburnum (same common name is applied to a couple of different plants), they can be cut back hard. Anywhere from 8-10 inches, although I'm not sure I'd be quite that aggressive myself. This should be done in late winter or early spring - not now - or if less of a radical approach, immediately after flowering.
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ginny12
16 years ago
MB, I'm glad you posted over here and hope you get lots of good answers such as the above. After seeing your post on the Heirloom forum, I did some reading about the snowball bush in my library. While common names are a thing of danger--!--the snowball name has most often been applied to Viburnum opulus for centuries.

It is a very old garden plant, first in Europe and then in America. It is one of those relatively few shrubs grown only for its beauty, with no useful purpose, such as food or medicine. There are many, many references to it in old garden books and herbals. It's great that you are preserving this old plant at your old house.
mahoneybunny
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks all...first ...I checked the "stems" of the bush and they really are more like tree trunks.They are about 2 inches around at least.There are some new green stems growing that had a few flowers on them...do I leave these ones alone?They are kinda aiming to fill in the one side that is pretty empty.All the flowers are now brown so I think now is the time to do anything right?The roots of this bush are out into the grass pretty far, but I have been making sure that it gets at least two gallons of water unless it rains.I have'nt put any other stuff on the bush...should I and if so ...what?I dont have much experience gardening....this is our first house (and the last until the kids move out!)I never had a garden before or trees and shrubs so I am completely in the dark on these issues.The house was empty for about fifty years until we bought it so the bush had no help at all.I really love this bush and people actually stop to look at it,so I want to "fix" it if I can.Thanks for any help!

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