oodles of information

Forsythia

Care and Pruning Information

Forsythias are the first shrub to bloom in Spring and make excellent informal hedges or may be planted as an individual shrub. The Forsythia is a fast growing deciduous shrub, growing from 1-2 feet per year with gently cascading branches full of blooms in Spring. The only drawback is the blooms of the Forsythia don’t last very long. Depending on the variety, they can vary in size from only 1 ft tall to more mature shrubs reaching heights of 8 to 10 feet. If you decide to plant a hedge row be sure and space your forsythias from 4 to 6 ft apart. Forsythias are very versatile, they thrive in full sun or light shade and grow in almost any soil. They are quite tolerant of adverse growing conditions. Be sure and keep in mind the potential mature size, of your variety when planting. Larger varieties need plenty of space to grow.

The beauty of the natural cascading shape of the forsythia is the reason for its long lasting popularity. Forsythias are best planted (or transplanted) during the winter dormant season, however they can be safely planted at any time of the year. For optimum blooming, fertilizer, such as all purpose 10 -10 -10 should be applied in mid February through mid May.

forsythia in bloom

© 2008 photo courtesy L Watts

The forsythia’s flowers form on the previous season’s growth, not on new growth. Pruning should be done immediately after the Spring flowers have faded. Once your Forsythia finishes blooming, you should prune back about 1/3 to 1/4 of the oldest stems leaving only 4 inches of old growth from the ground. If your forsythia is drastically overgrown and left un-pruned it may stop blooming altogether. If you have an older forsythia that refuses to bloom, you can cut the entire plant to the ground. It may take a few years before you’ll see blooms again, but your shrub will come back, much healthier and happier and your own blooming forsythia will be your first sign of Spring ! When researching forsythias, keep in mind this beautiful plant is sometimes misspelled as ‘forsynthia’ or ‘forcynthia’.

© 2008 oOdles of infOrmation