Pruning A Forsythia When Shouldn't Really

[Smowball]

My small forsythia was pruned last spring as it should be. Then this January just gone my son came to stay and to cut a long story short he hacked every shrub to within four inches off the ground. Needless to say it didn't flower this year! But has now had an insane growth spurt and I have 8 or 9 seven foot long spindly green branches full of leaves but flopping down as they are so weak and so long, at a 90 degree angle. Should I just leave them or cut them down again as they look silly or will it confuse it even more??

[bhg481]

It will recover. We gave ours the "do or die" treatment a few years ago ie, cut it back to about 4" - we then read that you shouldn't do that. We now have a very healthy plant that dives us lots of flowers every spring.

[RetroChic2]

Take the spindly new growth back to around 3 ft - this will have blooms next year as forsythia blooms on 'old' wood. It will also encourage side shoots which will bloom the year after

[Smowball]

Brilliant. Thankyou!!