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Neglected Hebe
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Posted by kazzie SE England (My Page) on Fri, Jul 21, 06 at 7:25
| I have 2 hebes planted out front and I forget they are there. Anyway, one in particular has bushed out too much (probably beyond repair). How do they react to a really harsh pruning?
Many thanks
Kaz |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| Not always very well. Sometimes they will sprout from old wood, sometimes not. So a hard prune might kill it. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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- Posted by kazzie SE England (My Page) on
Fri, Jul 21, 06 at 15:34
| Many thanks. My other hebes are still under control... when should I prune them? |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| 'After flowering'. And stay out of the old wood if you can. H salicifolia and pimelioides can come back from a firm pruning but probably not the whipcords. Conversely, if appropriate, you could expose the lower branches to add a touch of airiness and 'drama' to the planting. If those bare limbs are off-putting, then the cunning disguise of a suitable grass, perhaps? |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| Thank you vetivert. I am not sure of the names of my hebes (I just don't know how you all remember the names!!!). The 2 hebes alongside my driveway have gotten big and must not enlarge any more!!! These could take a light-ish pruning after flowing?: 
It's the ones in another area which are causing me grief. They are very exposed to the sun and I admit to neglecting them. I am not sure that they can be saved... what do you think?: 
If I was to remove them completely... has anyone got any ideas what plant(s) could replace them (full sun)? Many thanks Kaz |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| Are they really Hebes? I know there are ones that big but most people have the little ones that grow in balls a couple of feet high. From limited experience, I have found the big-leaved ones to be quite good about coming back from a hard prune. Prune after flowering Always the right advice but it can be tricky. More and more Hebes are being developed with very long flowering periods or repeat flowering spring and autumn. I find that these types in particular, but also other Hebes, just don't flower well the season after pruning. has anyone got any ideas what plant(s) could replace them (full sun)? I like Hollies :) Your choices are endless. At the risk of being partisan againt those New Zealand plants, I think there are far better shrubs available. Do you want the flowers? Long flowering or a spectacular one-off? Evergreen? Do you want berries? Spiny or not? Autumn colour? Scent? What is the soil like? Wet? Dry? Alkaline? Acid? |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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- Posted by kazzie SE England (My Page) on
Mon, Jul 31, 06 at 17:48
| You can tell I'm not a very experienced gardener!!! I've always assumed they are hebes. Here's a close up of their flowers: 
The soil is clay. I would prefer a tidy evergreen - I have pyracanthus (sp?) growing against the front of the house. You've got my imagination going now... I'll look up some hollies. I think those hebes are going to have to go! PS... if they are not hebes, any idea what they are? Thank you for your help. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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RE: Neglected Hebe
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| I think they're hebes too. My mother has some large, fleshy-leaved ones which are 6 foot tall. I've cut stacks off them, into old wood and they haven't died! They still look horrible, however, with loads of scraggy bare stem. I'd have them all out if I had my way! I think the only good ones are those small, neat, dome-shaped ones. They have to have full sun and regular clipping to keep them neat, though in my experience they lose it eventually no matter what you do. How about replacing them with some lavenders? Not very original, but they are evergreen, provide colour and, of course, scent. But they would also get leggy eventually. I wouldn't chose a prickly plant if it was next to a seating area. Something scented or with tactile leaves would be nice. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| They certainly look like Hebe. They don't resemble Weiglia? or the Buterfly Bush in the first photos. I'd have a go at the one that looks like an hedgehog and try my hand at topiary. If it fails then you were already considering a bonfire of that vanity. I'd do it in late autumn when there is plenty of moisture around and enough sun to heal all wounds. They flower in early summer I think so any time now would do. But why hurry? |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| Leggy Hebes in the wild look characterful; a long hard life battling against the elements. It's not quite the look for a well-groomed garden however. April is the recommended month for general pruning but, if you were to deadhead the way you do with Rhododendrons, and nipped back to a pair of buds on green wood, you could 'recover its waistline'. Hedge shears would be a bit brutal - leaving half-leaves behind. If the call of the compost heap is the answer: Choisya? The one with the gold and green leaves is quite dainty and it will take pruning. Cotoneaster, the rockspray small-leafed one, as standards for the sitting area, perhaps. Very tentatively ;-) - dwarf Corokia, which definitely doesn't mind pruning, has little yellow flowers and small red berries in some versions. Abelia, which definitely withstands pruning and has pretty flowers, is evergreen (in z9). Euryops, perhaps. Dwarf Escallonia. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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I have succeeded in propagating Hebe "Red Edge" by layering(once!) and you could try that, create a new plant, then destroy the old.
The problem with Hebes is that they come in so many different shapes and sizes, and develop in so many different ways tnat it is difficult to generalise.
I too agree that the nice rounded mat-like are the most appealing and some of those get quite big without losing their shape.If you are thinking of getting rid anyway, you have nothing to lose by trying pruning - and if doesn't work throw it out. Why not cut hard 33% of the shoots - and if they regenerate chop back the rest next year Malcolm |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| Sorry it has taken me a while to respond, I've had some connection problems. I really appreciate the suggestions given. I've decided to dig up the ones by the bench, but keep pruning the ones by the driveway and see how they go. At the moment, the pace of life doesn't afford me much time to spend on the garden, which is a bummer because I enjoy the outside so much. Then the ponds absorb the little time I do have! Thank you all again. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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| I prune my hebes regularly. I take out all the straggly shoots and any that are sticking out too much and are ruining the look of the bush. Mine have reacted very well to all my pruning. I also take heel cuttings every year and all these take easily, which I promptly share with friends and neighbours. In the past I have also layered a couple to see how well they would take, and those took easily too. Don't get too worried about harming your hebes. They are pretty tough. Those in the second photo could definitely do with a good prune. Cut them back to the shape you require, then give them a good mulch and watering. I regularly cut back most of my perennial shrubs like the cotinus, potentilla, fuchsia, phygellus, cotoneaster, choisia, viburnum, weigela, strawberry bush, California lilac, ribes sanguineum, St John's Wort, broom, holly, astara and I have even hacked into the New Zealand flax and divided it brutally. So far none of them have died and seem to thrive with the regular pruning. But always mulch and water after you prune - that is important for any plant. |
RE: Neglected Hebe
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Sorry to drag an old thread back up, but I've just joined the forum and have been looking back through the threads. I have the same hebe as the pink close up photo, but not yet as big as the OP's. I also have a very similar one with purple flowers. Don't know which varieties they are as they are all from family cuttings and I've never seen them in the garden centres.
Anyway, last year I had five of these in the garden, but three of them had a hard time over winter (one pink and two purple). Two were past saving, but I had a good hard prune of a purple one. It was about three foot high and wide, getting a bit straggly and lost most of its leaves to frost. I hacked back into old wood to about a foot all round, leaving only a few healthy shoots. I did this in about April.
This summer it has been a revelation - took a while to get going, first flush of flowers a bit stunted, but it is now back to about 2-3 foot high and round, very compact and dense, lots of luscious new growth and is smothered with flowers as I type, each cluster about five inches long. It also put on lots of growth low down, so now hugs the ground far better than it ever did.
I also seem to be finding self-seeded hebes around this area of the garden - not sure whether they are from this plant or they were the parting shots of its now deceased friends.
I'll be having a go at my other two survivors next spring!
If you haven't already dug them up, I would suggest a good hard prune in spring - they still have plenty of time to flower after pruning.
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