Pruning a Hebe

203846930

Experience has taught me that you can't beat other people's experience when it comes to pruning.
I live in Fife and my Hebe has become a bit overgrown due to not pruning it last year, how far back can I cut it this year so that it will still come again next year?
I am worried that if I take it back too far I will not get any new growth but on the other hand if I don't take it back far enough then I will still have the same problem next year.
Thanks

Justagardener

Don't prune it now, its too late especially in Fife.
Wait till it has finished flowering next year then prune.

203846930

Justagardener said:

Don't prune it now, its too late especially in Fife.
Wait till it has finished flowering next year then prune.

it has just finished flowering that was why I was asking.

Justagardener

Therefore cut it back late spring next year. Pruning now would leave it exposed to the  cold weather  which you will inevitably get in the next few months. 

203846930

We never got any real cold weather last winter but I will hold off until the spring for any big prune, any suggestions on how much I can take it back without doing any damage.

Justagardener

Removing a third is the general rule and hebes respond well to this. I prefer a rejuvenation approach, especially with a hard prune. Remove as much as you want on one half of the shrub. Let that grow for a season and then do the same to the other half next season. It can look a bit odd but it gives the plant more of a chance of surviving a hard prune.

DiggerUK

We must be lucky here (W.midlands) so long as they've flowered we trim as and when to keep them bushy. No harm touch wood..._

203846930

If I remove a third it would be into the bare, old wood, I am not sure that it would recover from that.

madjackslam

I think the smaller-leaved hebes respond better to hard pruning that the larger-leaved. I would try and strike some cuttings now, then you have an insurance policy for next year if it doesn't work out.

sheramber

I cut an overgrown  hebe back to the ground last  summer as I wanted to remove  it.  I was unable to get eh root out so left it. This year it has sprouted into growth again.
I live  in the cold , far north of Scotland.

According to this  https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beginners-guide/pruning-plants/pruning-shrubs

Other evergreens can be renovated over several years:

• In spring lightly prune the whole shrub to encourage buds to break further down the stems.
• Later in summer prune harder into the plant to create the desired size and shape.

After any renovation pruning make sure you feed and mulch in spring, if you want the plant to make vigorous growth.

Plants suitable for this pruning:

• Choisya
• Escallonia
• Hebe
• Pittosporum
• Viburnum tinus
•  

203846930

madjackslam said:

I think the smaller-leaved hebes respond better to hard pruning that the larger-leaved. I would try and strike some cuttings now, then you have an insurance policy for next year if it doesn't work out.

This is what I have done, hopefully it will be OK.