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They're not unhealthy, as Butterfly6 says, it's just old, tired foliage which will give way to new growth once the weather warms up. They're terrific plants for clay soil in shade.

Thank you for your responses. Why a previous owner of this place put them in, is beyond me. Still, it'll give me a lifetime of employment!!

The upright varieties are less of a pest than the horizontal ones, which smoother everything in their path. And the birds and the bees are definitely fans.

I have a lot of them in my garden courtesy of the previous owner. I don't love them but they are all well established in the hedge so they have stayed. Personally I find the fragrance a bit like cat wee but you have to get close to smell it on mine! They are a reliable flower-er though so I keep...

I suppose it won't matter too much if it's too drastic, especially for the Forsythia. It is the product of accidental propagation when I used a stick to support another plant and it took me years to get rid of the parent shrub (which was in an awkward spot). I can always take some cuttings as...

@Nickoslesteros , yes, it looks like a dog rose to me - I've just got one that's appeared in the neighbours hedge. The flowers are very pretty though, pale pink and good for pollinators I believe so I'm going to enjoy it for a while, then cut it back on our side.

We get them later in the year where they always strip the bushes clean. It doesn't seem to do any harm then but I wouldn't want them earlier. I think we don't have a problem with the first flush because the fruit cage is open for pollination and the birds do a good job, we reward them later on...

That would be lovely to have a peach tree. I've been trying to grow a nectarine for a couple of years, this year is the first year it has borne fruit. My fingers are firmly crossed they'll hang on. This is what I love about gardening, there's always something to look forward to. Good luck with...