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!

These are rugged plants (in the correct zones) and people prune them in a variety of different ways. 'Topping' it isn't really a good idea, but you can do some reduction cuts to shorten the branches (including the leader). They look very attractive when pruned to single and multi-trunked small trees, as well. Most will get from about 5-25' tall, so allow plenty of room. This generally isn't a good choice for a spot where you want something to stay small (there are a few dwarf/prostrate varieties). One reason that the branches are weighted down right now is all those flowers! Sara

its a bit late.. lush spring growth ... leave it be. .... in fall .. lets make some decisions then ... its invasive in some areas.. not the best plant but for any other options ... dad had one that was 8 inch caliper and about 15 feet tall.. and we cut it to 6 inches.. and it bounded back like no ones business ... you cant really kill them if you want to.. so quit worrying about it.. and let it grow some leaves to fed itself.. if you insist on keeping it ken

I ran across a test a man did on his showing progress photos. He trimmed one down to the ground in early spring and left the other one next to it untrimmed to compare. By mid season, both shrubs were the exact same height except the untrimmed was not nearly as thick and robust and had far fewer blooms. Also, the dead blooms never fell off from the previous season so he had new blooms with last years together. Part of the experiment was to see if that actually did happen. It did. I am trimming mine next year. chrissy60-- if you want a small shrub there are cultivars that are much smaller available. I saw some just today at Home Depot. They were short and loaded with blooms.