We've got 2 Weigelas that need serious pruning. These things are between 5 and 10 years old and its never been done. They look horrible :/ I've Googled how to prune them, but I thought Id get your guys' thoughts and opinions before hacking away at them. Should I go with rejuvenation (cutting away 1/3 of the branches) or renovation (cutting the whole thing so many inches above the ground)? I'm not that worried about killing the shrubs, as they are commonly sold around here, but they're my mom's favorite shrubs and I don't want her to freak out You can hardly tell theres 2 shrubs (actually 3 shrubs in this area, theres a star magnolia on the far right) The dark red is taking over the variegated. 2 Weigelas ( photo / image / picture from TheBip's Garden ) This is the base of the Variegated. ( photo / image / picture from TheBip's Garden ) This is the base of the red. ( photo / image / picture from TheBip's Garden )
I suppose it depends on how quickly you want to improve the looks of the area. The three year pruning regime is the mostly likely to succeed, but it does take time. Cutting the shrub down to about a foot would probably result in no flowers for the next season, but........ After flowering is the proper time to prune by the way.
