Solved Is it tree heather and can I rejuvenate?

Hi all, I think this shrub is a tree heather, can anyone confirm?

If it is, the RHS suggests it would rejuvenate from old wood, but is that really what will happen if I hard prune this? How far back would you prune it and when? I like it but it's getting big and leggy and I'd ideally like to make it narrower and shorter to fit the space better.

 

You can cut Heather back into the hard wood but it takes about two years for it to rejuvenate.

 

Heather is a heathland plant, which by definition, is naturally regenerated by grazing and/or fire. If you are concerned, suggest you cut back half the stems now and remainder next Autumn/Spring26 to promote new growth. Cuttings for propagation can be taken July-September using semi-ripe material.

 

Tree heathers should be trimmed back each year to just below the bottom of the dead flower spray to keep them in shape. I would remove a few of the bottom stems now to give it a narrower shape, in a years time remove more lower stems if it is still not narrow enough for you.
You are forcing it to grow into an un-natural shape for tree heathers which are normally very bushy and can grow quite big. That is why they are called "tree" heathers. They are more of a sub shrub.

 

My understanding is they flower over winter or early spring so presumably cut them back after flowering.

I'll see which branches might make sense to remove - thanks for the advice!

 

Tree Heathers flower in the Spring so by pruning now you will be unlikely to see it flower next year. It might be better to wait until after it has flowered. Most Heathers do not respond well to hard pruning but tree Heathers do. I have one which must be about 60 years old and has branches of about a good 9 inches in diameter. I slaughter it with a saw every 4 or 5 years and it bounces back without fail.

 

I agree with @Goldenlily26 re the eventual size, so it may not be ideal for the site it's in, especially when you'd need to keep pruning it to fit. Might be worth thinking about moving it to a better site, and replacing with something more suited to the space. The alternative is to make the space bigger, and maybe add some other planting nearby and/or below it.

They're certainly a bit different from the 'usual' heathers in terms of pruning/trimming. If you keep it there, prune after flowering though, as others have said.