About a year ago I moved to a new house whose previous owner loved to sheer plants. Ugh!
I am hardly a master gardener, but I do understand the basic principles of pruning and I'm reasonably successful at maintaining the appearance and health of plants that either I planted or were in decent shape when I inherited them.
But, I really don't know how I should go about rehabilitating plants that have been sheared for quite a number of years.
My sympathy. They're awful. Unfortunately, you have to live with them for a season or two. Let them grow out to something approximating their natural shape. Don't prune them at all.( In the meantime, do a little research to find out what their natural shape is.) Once they've regained their shape, prune only as necessary to keep the plant healthy, or perhaps to control height, although I prefer to let plants attain their natural height. If too tall for its site, I remove the plant.
