Did I Overprune?

I had been reading about pruning shrubs as I now have about 15. This is a viburnum trilobum Red Wing Select that I planted in '04 or '05. I read that if there are crossed branches, one should be pruned out. This one had two pairs of crossed branches and one that was interfering with a hydrangea. I pruned these out to the ground and saw the crosses were indeed wounding each other. It looks really bare now - do you think I overpruned? Actually, I kind of like the architectural look at the bottom. Is that goofy?

Sorry - don't mean to bombard this forum with my viburnum questions!!

Here's a pic of the wounded branches from others crossing. Poor thing! I know I should have taken care of this when it was young, but I didn't know enough to do it! Do you think it will be OK?

I think your prune job looks good. I like the bottom too.

I have a vitex that I WILL prune this winter and I hope my result looks as pleasing as yours does.

Dawn

Oh, my - thank you, Dawn! You made my day!

I see vitex pruned like that all the time and what you did is fine. Viburnum where I am grows like crazy so in my yard it would all grow back next year, any ways not sure what the growth rate is in Il but looks fine to me. Is that a lime light hydrangea??? I have lime light and it got big this year so expect that to be taking up some space down the road.

This message was edited Aug 30, 2010 12:57 PM

Hi, Core - the one in the picture foreground is a hydrangea paniculata Tardiva and the one next to the viburnum is a paniculata Pinky Winky. There's a Pinky on the other side of the viburnum that's doing poorly, I think because the viburnum encroached on its space just this year!

Pinky winky??? LOL.

Yep - Pinky Winky! : )

You'll appreciate this - I love hydrangeas and wanted to honor the husband of a good friend who passed away in July after a long illness. Well, the paniculatas all start blooming mid to late summer, so I thought it would be nice to plant one for Joyce to celebrate Glenn's life and it would start blooming around the time of his passing each year. I decided against Pinky because of the name and opted for Quick Fire. Joyce loved it and when I told her about the other choice she said, "Oh, thank God you didn't get a plant with Pinky and Winky in its name - Glenn would roll over in his grave!"

It was funny and I know Glenn was laughing with us, somehow! If this sounds a bit heartless, you'd have to know the situation - Glenn was a sparkling personality until a form of Parkinson's that takes you mind as well as body slowly took him. His death was actually a homegoing to all who loved him!

OK, it's a year later and - with tears, almost - I had to take this viburnum down. Remember this pic of the wounded branch that I thought was caused by crossing with another? Well, almost the whole shrub had that this year. I kept cutting the "exfoliated, rough" branches off as they weren't producing and finally took the whole shrub down. These branches were not difficult to cut through, either, so must have been sick.

Two things . . .

1. I guess I'd like a post-mortem. Anyone know what on earth this shrub had? Rough, "rubbed to the inner wood" bark, weak branches.

2. Can I plant another shrub within a foot or two of it? The roots of the old one are still in the ground. If not, what to do? I need something tall. Joe Pye Weed, maybe?

: ( "sniff"

Took a branch to my best gardening answer guy, Wally, at Pesches. He turned the branch up, looked into the inner tissue and said, OH . . . I don't like that! He pointed to a circle of mushy white in the center and started searching online and in a huge book he has and he got it right on spot - vertimicillun wilt. It's soil-borne and I now see it in one branch of a nine bark I have. Dang.