I kept mine to maybe 5 main branches, the biggest was 3" diam., & trimmed off the lower small branches so I could plant alot of stuff underneath & expose the bark. The wood isn't too hard, so it's easy to cut if the diam is kept manageable. If you trim a side twig all the way back tight to the main branch, most likely it won't sprout at the cut. And the sprouts from the base are soft & easily cut w/ pruners. If it was my shrub, I'd select a 12" area to keep; cut the rest of the area to ground level & cover w/ heavy black plastic, big rocks & mulch, & see what happens. I think these roots go straight down deep - rarely needed supplemental watering. Digging it out could be quite difficult. I'd guess my shrub was 30 years old & the base was only 12" diameter, but it was planted in dry east exposure shade - which probally slowed the spread. It was on the side of our house, arching over the gate into the backyard. The base was 36" from a sidewalk. Between trimmings or when in bloom we'd just duck to avoid getting poked in the eye. I can imagine a front path main entrance location could have been a problem. When in bloom, it would get so heavy w/ all the tiny flowers, the branches would weigh down halfway to the ground. After it bloomed, and all the tiny flowers started to drop, it would look like it was snowing. The layer of fallen flowers was so thick on the ground you couldn't see the sidewalk. It's a bush worth trying to keep!

I know this is an old thread but maybe someone could help me. I purchased this home in 2012. It had an established, run down garden. I didn't do much the first year because I was more focused on house repairs and renovations. The next year I got to work. Anyway, there are two ancient smoke bush shrubs. One has redish purplish leaves. The other has coppery with a purple tint leaves. Both have multiple big trunks where new growth grows from the top of each. I have no idea what varieties these are but they do leaf out and put out smokes. Anyway, this year, after a horrible winter, one smoke bush is leafing out but the other looks quite dead. Just a few little leaves on the bottom of one trunk only (out of 6 trunks). I don't know what to do with it because it is in a prominent area of the garden. I just heard on the news that this is the lowest rainfall for May on record. Could this be the reason why it's not leafing out? I don't ever water the shrubs but they do receive residual watering when I water the lawn, so I've pretty much counted that out as a reason. Any ideas? I know it's a little late in the season but is pruning an option. I only did a light pruning when I got down to business 2 years ago. Thanks for any info.

Here are few blueberry experts advice and discussions on blueberry pruning that might interests you to finalize your plan.... http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1475683/how-to-prune-shb-blueberries-after-fruiting?n=3 http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1491547/should-i-prune-these-blueberry-bushes-pics?n=13 http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1462188/prune-bareroot-blueberry-immediately-after-planting?n=12

Ty for all responses. This is a tecoma capensis. I have had it for 3 years. July of 22 I took picture of it starting to brown but as you can see it recovered. I took pic of it in Jan 23 Just wondern if it will recover again The only other thing done this year is i had a gardener in June and altho I told him not to trim any plants- he did. Also hardly no rain this summer. This is on a wall facing west. Should i prune the kitty?