I have neighbors that do the same thing to their azaleas and gardenias. At least it's not as bad or permanent as crape murder. Some people just don't get it.

Your spireas shurbs are really pretty. I have always like spirea. It alway reminds me of old fashioned cottage gardens of the past.

Wendy, I think the solution is to invite her over for t*ea just when the spirea in your g*arden is looking it's best. [g] Maybe she just doesn't know what she is missing.

I so agree with the way you do it. My spirea are lovely like yours because of pruning a few of the bigger branches each year. If you are going to prune into a box, you should just get boxwood to begin with.
kay

Oh, she knows what she's missing..her lawn is on the other side of the fence, so she enjoys the view I suppose. My daughter married her son..the "boy next door", so I walk a fine line, being neighbours to my in-laws.

I'm glad we were 'just neighbours' for ten years before love bloomed!

To each his own, I guess. We actually get along quite well, split perennials every spring and share. We just have two very different gardening styles..:o)

What telling photos! My father-in-law is an over-pruner - I am going to show these shots to my mother-in-law. She will love them.

Your spirea are absolutely gorgeous - graceful ball gowns of blooms

Bridalwreath spireas are one of my favorite shrubs - not prouned! A house at the end of the street used to have a magnificent hedge of them all around the property. Then the house sold and was knocked down to build a big new one. The hedge got pruned into a rigid thing - in late summer of course, so all the flowering wood was lost... That year, at a Christmas party in the neghbourhood we met the new owers. I talked about the magnificent hedge that now doesn't flower and how great it would look with their house (which is dark blue with white trim.) I pretended to assume the previous owner had done the pruning before they sold the house. Last summer they let the hedge grow naturally and it is in full magnificent bloom at the moment! We met the lady of the house the other day while we were out walking the dog. I commented on how great the hedge looked - like a foaming wave around her very nautical-looking house :-) She seemed quite pleased with it but wanted to know how to make it a bit smaller. I told her she had two basic options - after the blooms fade, either cut it completely to about 6-8" and let the whole thing start again from the roots (it grows quite fast and that approach will produce a bush of 18-24" by the end of summer) or start doing a yearly maintenance of taking 1/3 of the stems out each after flowering finishes, removing the thickest ones. That will keep it tall but control the width a bit better. That's the apprach we take with ours. She seemed inclined to do the cut it down approach which I think is unwise in their case. The house is on the corner, fronting on a very busy road. Cutting in down is going to lose a lot of privacy.

Shes making a mistake and has that shrub in the wrong spot..

She should move it to where she can allow it to sprawl, regardless of her gardening habit..

She should put a dwarf Arborvitae there, something like the golden eastern types..or this one Thuja occidentalis 'Rheingold' (Eastern Arborvitae)
Im not a huge fan of evergreens, but that spot is crying for something different.. its not meant for what she has there.. its doing a disservice to her house and garden structure and to the shrub itself..

Of course you shouldnt show her this entire thread.. but maybe point out to her that maybe its time to let this one go... or find one on sale and give it as gift =).. say, hey that spot with your spirea this is going to fit much better.. Im willing to help you move it...

Silverkelt

Hum, I've got a similar problem with a neighbor who commits crepe murder every year. And I'm the one stuck having to look at the misshapen mess everyday. Yet the two in my yard have never been cut, have a gorgeous shape and bloom prolifically. I know it must just be a habit they're in that they cut that tree back to a stick every year but, gosh, if they'd only open their eyes and look they could see which trees look better.

Those are the prettiest spireas I have ever seen. I love them with the arborvitae. I wish mine looked like that!
Renee