Getting forsythia to bloom??

[MarthaE]

We have a forsythia bush (well, actually, it's about 12 feet tall now, so it's
more like a tree) in our backyard. For some reason, it hasn't really bloomed
for about four years now. This year, the whole bush had no more than 30 or 40
blossoms! It looks half-dead when it's blooming, but once leaves appear, it
looks quite healthy for the rest of the year.

The people at the local nursery suggested that we cut it WAY back, to about 5
feet high, in order to get it to bloom more. We did this last year, as they
recommended, but it just grew back to its old height and had another spring
with very few blossoms. Miracle-Gro hasn't seemed to help, either.

Does anyone know how we can get our forsythia to bloom again? (BTW, most
forsythias do well in this area. Our neighbors have gorgeous forsythia bushes
that bloom every spring with no problems.)

[lew matt]

Forsythia blooms appear on new growth. Take the brush hog to your plant
and cut it back to the ground about a week after it is done blooming. The
plant will regrow and next spring you will have blooms on this new growth.
I have miles of Forsythia hedge and I cut it back every other year for good
results. I don't have time to cut it all every year. Some years are
better than others. :-) good luck.

Lew Matt
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MarthaE <mar...@aol.com> wrote in article
<199805070528...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...

[Gage]

If you prune too late, you've just cut off next years blossoms. A bad
winter can kill off some of the buds for the following spring (I just
happened to have just read that)