Cutting back shrubs after flowering

Children, don’t try this at home.

When people suggest cutting back a shrub after flowering, they don’t mean to raze it to the ground.

But I did. And I really mean it.

Yes, this is stage three in the radical redesign of the entrance to our property. The east garden.

Wisteria gone (it died). Lilac gone (suckers remain) and now deutzia (a poor mock orange) chopped.

And boy it felt good.

I shouldn’t, of course, have let them get so out of hand. It took me a few years just to work out what this shrub was. Someone said it was a mock orange, but it didn’t have much scent.

And my efforts at pruning were definitely fey.  I should have reduced the thug by a third. Every single year.

But now, ten years on, it has had the mother of all haircuts.

And I’ve chipped all the branches. Aren’t I good? They were lying on the path so I couldn’t pretend I could get round to it in a few days time. And then forget.

And now I need to ponder what to do. I’ve stacked the lovely sacks of mulch in the lean-to shed. I have all the plants ready to go for a new planting scheme. Sedums, rosemary, lavender.

But I want to ponder the space first. And get that ivy off.

The thrilling thing is I have found a lovely stone wall hiding behind  the shrubs.  Smothered in vegetation, and just perfect for a spot of archeology.