Tatty Fushchia bushes

swingaloo2

I will be moving house soon and not being much of a gardener I have a question. The door is on the side of the house and when we first saw the house the pathway down to the door had a lovely fushchia in full flower and the garden had obviously been cared for. But the person who lived in the house had died and the  house has been stood empty for over 5 months now. Because the sale is taking so long the garden is now starting to look the worse for wear and it does not look like we are going to be in there before the nights draw in and the weather changes so all my plans for getting the garden straight for winter are now being put aside in place of getting decorated etc before Christmas. 
What I have noticed is that the lovely fushchia has now become thin and straggly and has grown so much that to reach the door you literally have to push it to one side to get past.  This means that the first job we will have to do before we will be able to get our furniture etc down the path is to sort out the bush.
Can I just take electric hedge trimmers to it and cut it right back or would that ruin it? It looks so thin now it is past its best that I feel it may resemble a pile of twigs sticking out of the ground if I take too much off. 

theoretica

Fuchsia will take hard pruning - they prefer it to be in Spring however (they are more affected by cold once pruned), so I would take it back to the edges of the path only and finish the job of taking off the straggly stuff in spring.  OR - possibly even less work, tie it back for now.

twopenny

Yes, you can take a hedge trimmer to it but you can't do that until the sale has gone through and you're going to need electric unless you have a battery or fuel hedgetrimmer.

I'd get some garden wire and your tool box and hammer in something to tie the wire to to hold it back untill you're in and have chance to breath and take a look at your options.

Yes, spring is much better if you want it to look lovely but it will look twiggy for the rest of the winter.

swingaloo2

Thank you for the replies. I hadn't given thought to tying it back but will do that. Obviously I don't intend to do anything until the sale completes. Its only because we live just round the corner and I see it when I'm walking the dog that I'm so aware of it.

MalMonroe

In my experience with fuchsia - and I am the world's most rubbish gardener - you can cut it back/prune it at any time of the year and it will return without fail the next year. It's the most hardy plant I've ever known. (And I've known and killed many plants, believe me!) It's true of all species of fuchsia. I've had lovely fuchsia bushes at my last three properties and no matter what happens, it never dies.

This year, during coronavirus I've not even bothered with my fuchsia plants. The only watering they've had has been when it rained. And STILL they bloom and they've spread too. They seem to thrive on negligence, I'm not kidding. My neighbour is vigilant with all her plant watering and she also has fuchsias but hers look no better than my neglected ones. 

That's my experience of fuchsias, anyway. They look lovely and they look after themselves. 

Apodemus

Personally,  I would prune out whole branches using secateurs rather than using a hedge trimmer.  I routinely do this as an autumn task and it works for me, but all the professional advice is to go for a spring pruning.

[Deleted User]

I'm with @Apodemus , i opt for selective pruning, with a lot of plants, too.

Davesnave

If it grew out too far this year, it will do it again in future years too, so it may well need relocating in spring. The plant seems to have been there for some years, so it's probably hardy, but not all fuchsias are in all the various microclimates experienced in this country.

swingaloo2

Im sure it has been there for many years, its one enormous hedge about 5ft plus tall and about 7 or 8ft long.

Davesnave

So probably one of the F magellenicas then.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-results?form-mode=false&query=Fuchsia magellanica

swingaloo2

That's the one, not my favourite's, I think it always looks a bit tatty even at its best.