Pruning Erysimum

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dirttiger Portland, OR Jun 01, 2010

I love my erysimum "bowles mauve"! It flowers from early spring until late fall. It has also grown REALLY fast in the 2 years that it has been in the ground. I am perplexed on how to prune this shrub though. It's size has gotten overwhelming (at least 3-4 ft in height and diameter) and like lavendar it is getting woody in the center. It hasn't goten so woody that it looks bad, but I can see the warning signs of things to come.
How the heck do I prune this thing?! It is always flowering so the advice to prune after flowering doesn't work. Also, I don't know how hard I can prune it back. Is it like lavendar in that if you prune too much it will die?
Help! Does anyone know when or how much I can prune off of this wonderful perennial?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 01, 2010

I don't know if it'll die if it's pruned too much, but I always avoid pruning back too much into the brown woody part just in case. Mine is typically about done blooming in late summer, so that's when I prune mine back, but if yours blooms a bit longer than mine then you may have to sacrifice some blooms in order to prune it. I have several of them and pruned three of them severely 2 years ago--2 came back wonderfully and the third one died, although I have no way to know whether it was the pruning that did it or if it was something else (watering, gophers, etc)

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dirttiger Portland, OR Jun 02, 2010

Thanks for replying! When you pruned them severely did you follow the same rules as lavandar, not pruning farther then green growth? Also how big do you keep them? Like I said mine are 3-4 ft in height and diameter, so I am wondering what size other people maintain them at.

Post #7852298
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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 02, 2010

Yes, I stayed out of the woody part. Mine typically get to about 2-3 ft (2 ft if you just look at the leaves, 3 if you count the height of the flower spikes). I don't water them very much, so you might try being a little stingier on water and they may stay a bit smaller.

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