This is also a great opportunity to increase your stock of the plants you like by taking cuttings. I now have half a dozen forsythia scattered around the place but only bought the first one; the rest have come from cuttings taken at this time of the year. But don't go mad - you don't want to end up with a garden crammed with only one or two plants that only flower for a few weeks of the year! We once bought a house with a long rectangular lawn some 10x3m lined on three sides with rows of alternated weigela and potentilla. I have refused to have either in any garden since!
As well as the forsythias I need to cut back a glorious winter flowering honeysuckle fragrantissima, planted outside our bedroom window so we can enjoy the intense fragrance in December and January. Not a total success as the windows are mostly closed in the winter, but it is worth standing in the morning sunshine and breathing in the scent. It will often be visited by bumble bees out for a mid-winter wing stretch and refuel.
The second honeysuckle, a Tatarian Honeysuckle, is a deep pink flowered one, the flowers and leaves coming out together in March. It can be invasive so needs to be managed to prevent it escaping, another reason for cutting hard after flowering to prevent the spread of berries by birds. Apparently it will also reach four metres if left to grow unchecked; I wish to keep it compact so it will be pruned hard in the next few days.
These shrubs all fit into Pruning Group 2, plants that flower on the growth put on in the previous year, so by cutting back after flowering we can manage the shape without losing the flowers and ensure plenty of time for the plant to grow new wood to carry next year's flowers.
The principle is the same with all of them, cutting out old and diseased wood, and then removing as much healthy growth as you want to keep the plant both open and airy and reduced to the required size. With this big forsythia I wll take it right back to about shoulder height knowing it will have doubled in size by next spring, giving us a big spectacular display.
Choose a healthy stem and cut it just below the leaf node, the point where the leaves emerge from the stem. Strip off the lower leaves and push the stem firmly into the pot, right down the side against the edge. I use tall pots, the type that clematis are often grown in, and push the stem all the way to the bottom. I want maximum stem and leaf nodes in the compost to give the best chance of new roots forming. You can cram the cuttings in - one on each corner and one in the centre of each side.
If the cutting is very leafy, cut the leaves in half. The plant loses water through the leaves and until roots form it will struggle to replace it. Water the pot thoroughly and put it somewhere in the shade; some people also cover the pot with plastic to keep the moisture in, but I found the leaves rotted. Remember to label the pots and then forget about them.
You will know within a few weeks if the cutting has taken because the existing leaves will not have died. Eventually you'll see new shoots forming on the stem and roots appearing out of the bottom of the pot. Don't be tempted to separate out the individual plants too soon: the roots will be delicate and could be damaged. I reckon to get about a 75% strike rate with forsythia and climbing honeysuckles (which we can do later in the year, again after flowering) but closer to 50% with the shrubby varieties.
Ultimately, if you're pruning a shrub anyway, why not have a go at taking cuttings; after all it is basically just putting a stick in a pot! And new plants are great for filling in gaps in the garden or for swapping with friends and neighbours for more interesting plants!
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