Forsythia Root Pruning

[Carrie.a.gordon]

I got this happy fat forsythia this summer. I want to reduce the roots quite a lot eventually but am having trouble finding any guidance on how much it will tolerate having removed. I have read that I should wait until it has bloomed in spring but still not sure how tolerant of root pruning they are. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[HorseloverFat]

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I got this happy fat forsythia this summer. I want to reduce the roots quite a lot eventually but am having trouble finding any guidance on how much it will tolerate having removed. I have read that I should wait until it has bloomed in spring but still not sure how tolerant of root pruning they are. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Niiiice! I love these! That trunk is a WONDERFUL starting point.. nice find!

My forsythia did not grow too well this season, but that is because it is one of several trees situated on a bench which was COOKING my trees from underneath! (I don’t really want to talk about it ) So it’s activity was small, but NORMALLY they are beastly shrubs, near impossible to properly remove from one’s landscape. This tells me that they really enjoy “making roots” so your concerns about removing some of those roots can be laid to rest, I believe.

My Forsythia gets root-work in late-winter/early spring... actually BEFORE bloom.

It’s important to point out, because it points to the tolerance of these beasts, that the Forsythia was the only survivor of the “cook yo’ roots from underneath” table.

 

[Carrie.a.gordon]

I

Niiiice! I love these! That trunk is a WONDERFUL starting point.. nice find!

My forsythia did not grow too well this season, but that is because it is one of several trees situated on a bench which was COOKING my trees from underneath! (I don’t really want to talk about it ) So it’s activity was small, but NORMALLY they are beastly shrubs, near impossible to properly remove from one’s landscape. This tells me that they really enjoy “making roots” so your concerns about removing some of those roots can be laid to rest, I believe.

My Forsythia gets root-work in late-winter/early spring... actually BEFORE bloom.

It’s important to point out, because it points to the tolerance of these beasts, that the Forsythia was the only survivor of the “cook yo’ roots from underneath” table.

I

I am very sorry that happened to you. You do your repotting and root pruning before blooming? I am not worried about getting flowers this year I just want to get it closer to the pot I want it in without killing it. What is the most you have done in a session on yours do you think?

 

[HorseloverFat]

I

I am very sorry that happened to you. You do your repotting and root pruning before blooming? I am not worried about getting flowers this year I just want to get it closer to the pot I want it in without killing it. What is the most you have done in a session on yours do you think?

Oh no problem! Every year I have some sort of COMPLETELY preventable, larger-scale (normally an entire table or “section”) Sort of catastrophe that teaches me about the limits or physical parameters, in the extremes, about plants.... and I LOVE learning about plants..

I fairly “hard”ly pruned my “show-off, Sugar Baby”, and removed about half of the rootmass, in early March, I think, when the flower buds were swelling..

And it took it, and some accidental frost afterwards, AND the “griddle”() and it’s happy, and healthy.. just about 2 months “behind”, due to the.. well.. you know.

Let me find some pictures.

 

[HorseloverFat]

It looks like I pruned in fall... and repotted at the time I had said..

I took pictures ONLY of the pruning, Apparently.. dang.

Whoops!

 

[Shibui]

I can confirm that Forsythia will cope well with absolute slaughter of roots. Even large cuttings with no roots will grow new roots. Cut as hard as you need to without any worries.
Timing is probably less critical than many other species. I generally do mine after flowering but as shown above winter root prune is also OK. They are tough enough you could probably even root prune in summer but I have not tried that yet.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

I had 100% success in collections on mine. I did fry 2 by forgetting to water them in full sun. Nice tree btw.

 

[leatherback]

24 nov 2013 I dug one



Washed, trimmed, cut so I could handle it and that it fit my biggest tub



April 2014


By late may I traded the tree for a bunch of tools, as I could not keep up with watering need, it was growing so fast.

 

[sorce]

Nice!

Welcome to Crazy!

Nice enough for going slower, which is actually going faster!

I'd say leave it in that pot for a while, but not with all them weeds. Forsythia roots grow so fast and dense, it must be one of the unsafest plants to pull weeds out of without destroying it's roots.

It will fill a small pot with roots so fast, there's really no need to step it down. Better to get the top more fine-tuned before worrying about having less root mass to do it with.

Slow down to speed up.

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

Nice!

Welcome to Crazy!

Nice enough for going slower, which is actually going faster!

I'd say leave it in that pot for a while, but not with all them weeds. Forsythia roots grow so fast and dense, it must be one of the unsafest plants to pull weeds out of without destroying it's roots.

It will fill a small pot with roots so fast, there's really no need to step it down. Better to get the top more fine-tuned before worrying about having less root mass to do it with.

Slow down to speed up.

Sorce

This is sound advice... mine... that has a trunk smaller in diameter (and not NEARLY as visually pleasing) is in (the equivalent) of a Nursery #3...FULL of inorganic...

MOST days it needs at least 2 “rounds” of watering... even recovering from that recent... ahem... mishap.

Also, as others have mentioned, the ability forsythia have to produce roots from whence roots weren’t... almost forces me to classify these, in my OWN observations, in that “group” i mentioned earlier including Salix and Potentilla.

 

[Carrie.a.gordon]

Nice!

Welcome to Crazy!

Nice enough for going slower, which is actually going faster!

I'd say leave it in that pot for a while, but not with all them weeds. Forsythia roots grow so fast and dense, it must be one of the unsafest plants to pull weeds out of without destroying it's roots.

It will fill a small pot with roots so fast, there's really no need to step it down. Better to get the top more fine-tuned before worrying about having less root mass to do it with.

Slow down to speed up.

Sorce

Yes lol I need to weed it. Good points all.

 

[Carrie.a.gordon]

This is sound advice... mine... that has a trunk smaller in diameter (and not NEARLY as visually pleasing) is in (the equivalent) of a Nursery #3...FULL of inorganic...

MOST days it needs at least 2 “rounds” of watering... even recovering from that recent... ahem... mishap.

Also, as others have mentioned, the ability forsythia have to produce roots from whence roots weren’t... almost forces me to classify these, in my OWN observations, in that “group” i mentioned earlier including Salix and Potentilla.

I set up an auto watering system so I don’t have to manually water all the time. I was thinking this would let me get away with down potting a couple of things. I know I should prune this more than I have but I was hoping to get flowers in spring and then repot but perhaps I am looking at it the wrong way.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I save some “chutes” just for flowers on certain species, at certain bloom-times.. I am obsessed with flower formation/structure (As are a few others here ).. so that’s no big deal. (Although it CAN be argued that flower and fruit removal provides more resources to put towards development)

But what IS a big deal and needs to be addressed is more related to ramification and bulging/inverse(reverse) taper.. these plants put on MUCH green in a season.. this equates to more acquired trunk/branch diameter than a species that puts out less...
So you will want to make sure your structure is “in order” (Trunk line/best front selected, main branches selected.. (I cannot tell from the pictures what definite branches exist and where), And all your 3’s and up, back down to 2’s (referring to number of “chutes”/branches protruding from ONE trunk/branch location..

I would at least get that in order... Then enjoy the flowers on the existing, unkempt branches,but I’d probably wait, now, until Autumn.

 

[Carrie.a.gordon]

Any input on what to do with it would be of interest. I’m looking at this thing and I know I need to reduce some of the branches that are all at the same level but I am paralyzed by indecision. Lol.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Have to figure out where you want branches.. Find the tree within, remove what corrupts the vision of that tree (adhering, of course to the visual laws)

What future do you see?... what’s your “intended direction/goal”?

(Also, If planning to enjoy the flowers, root-pruning BEFORE bloom allows for more Gibberrellin present.. maximizing “flower-viewing”.)

 

[Cadillactaste]

I repot after flowering as well. Just to ensure I don't knock off flower buds. Agree with above on not to worry about tackling the roots.

Advice from the late Dale Cochoy...if a branch is hallow, add cut paste to the end to keep water from settling in and rotting the branch. Miss picking his brain...he was an Ohioan. So I could really relate to climate and care.