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Landscape Design Perennials

Hard pruned spirea. Are they gonna make it?

3 years ago

I waited until late March to cut these way back. I’m in zone 5, NW Illinois. I think I see a small bud, hoping these will come back as they were looking lackluster before I went after them. I’m concerned that the roots are visible from washout. These were here before we moved in and I’m trying to get everything looking decent.

Featured Answer

katob Z6ish, NE Pa

3 years ago

Theyre going to be fine. You Did exactly the right thing and they should grow back nice and bushy and renewed

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Comments (12)

schoolhouse_gwagain
3 years ago
The only problem I can think of is that you probably won't have blooms this year.
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Hello! Thank you everyone for all of the advice! I did some experimentation in early march, and I thought I'd share the results. I tried 2 things: #1 - Thinning out the hedge to encourage new growth inside.. I did this on one of the hedges in the row (very much so.. its a bit patchy now).. I didn't see any significant new growth.. a couple very small buds here & there, but overall, not exactly what I was hoping for. #2 - I chopped 1/3 of the height off the hedge.. I chickened out of doing this on the main row (its very visible from the street), but did it to a less visible row of hedges (see picture). Its still has a bit of filling in to do (particularly around the gutter), but overall, I'm quite pleased with how quickly it went from "almost dead" to "green" :) On another note, the hedge all the way in the back wasn't part of this experiment & didn't get the kind of love that these ones got.. Though it was also chopped 1/3, it was much later in the year & done in a very quick manor to access a utility (hence the odd angle at the top)
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Comments (17)
I agree that they are very tough plants. Mine catch the blowing oak leaves and need serious grooming in very early spring. I remove any dead branches then too. Since this needs to be done early so as not to cut off too much of the beautiful new growth, and they are not a plus in the winter landscape, I wonder if I should/ could just cut them way back in the fall. I am in zone 6a.
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Illini Fan
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks. I can give up a year. The were about 2’ tall and leggy. Didn’t look good at all.

Now hopefully I can have the same luck with my lilac and viburnum 😎
Christopher CNC
3 years ago
Hopefully you did not cut the lilac and viburnum to the ground like the spirea. You won't have the same luck with that.
cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
3 years ago
I have spirea I cut back like this every other year and they always manage to bloom just fine. I do it fairly early- mine have already begun to leaf out.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
first... it would be good to ID your actual plant .. we can do that later ..

second.. crikey ... could the prior owner have planted them any closer to the foundation .. my god ...

you cant plant a bush thats going to be minimum 4 to 6 feet round.. 3 inches from the wall .. and then wonder why you have problems ...

imo... move them .. or just get rid of them ...

just look at the future growth potential: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=spirea&iax=images&ia=images

do you see any that should be where yours are ....

all that said.. you can barely kill the things.. so you will be back to my equation by fall

just always remember.. foundation plants are planted to hide the foundation... NOT ON THE FOUNDATION ....

aw heck.. just get rid of them.. and plant your own mistakes... lol ...

ken
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Are these gold leaf spiraea? If so cutting them back is precisely what they need and the flowers are neither here nor there, being muddy pink and not looking great in the yellow foliage. They do not grow very large and their proximity to the house is not an issue..
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
They will be perfectly fine!! And will probably bloom this season as well. I had a colored leaf spiraea I cut back mercilessly every winter and then multiple times during the growing season. I could not tolerate the muddy pink flowers (floral nailed that!), so every time it started to bud up, I'd shear it back. It never even blinked!!
Illini Fan
Original Author
2 years ago
Just what the Dr ordered I guess!

But dang these are wayyyyy too big for this area!
Illini Fan
Original Author
2 years ago
I have a perfect spot I’d like to move these to! When should I? Fall?
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
2 years ago
Either when the leaves start to color up in fall, or early spring. You could even split the bigger clumps in half or thirds if you want more, just make sure the parts have a good amount of roots and you use a sharp shovel.
pricklypearcactus
2 years ago
Thanks for sharing photos of your spirea! I have one monster and one baby (replaced a dead monster) and I've been wondering how far back I can cut the monster. Looks like I can cut it way back!

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