In Good Thyme - by Mariana Graham

Q: Someone in my neighborhood rigidly clips their forsythia. The bush is all squared off. While I am not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, I've always thought forsythia should grow as it wants and be clipped only if it was growing against a house (and then only flatten the house side of it). Is this a crime against nature or am I overreacting? - Susan M., Oak Harbor

A: I agree with you, Susan, that forsythia looks best when allowed to grow in its natural fountain shape. But if someone wants to make a Rubik's cube out of their shrub, well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Pruning is one of those subjects, like gun control. By gosh, it's my constitutional right to prune my plum tree into a 15-foot lollipop! If I want to make my dogwood resemble a schnauzer, it's my choice! But here goes:

For those unfamiliar with forsythia, it's that bright yellow-flowering shrub that blooms in February and March, just when we most need a cheery harbinger of spring. The leaves follow the flowers, and through the later spring and summer, forsythia isn't much more than a graceful spray of greenery. It often colors up nicely in the fall, but during winter, its bare branches can look rather messy, especially when they start crossing over each other. If allowed to grow unmolested, forsythia will get to be about 10 to 12 feet tall and almost as wide. It's not the sort of shrub you want under your picture window. Not only does it get big, but when the tips of its branches touch the ground, they root and form new plants. Left to its own devices, it will eventually become a forsythia forest. Unless this is what you're after, your forsythia should be pruned back by a third every year. Winter is the best time, because you can see what you're doing, and new growth will fill it out in the spring. If you have forsythia that hasn't bloomed yet, you can prune it now, bring the branches into the house, put them in water, and they will flower for you.
Start by sharpening your pruning shears, loppers and/or saw and donning kneepads, because you're going to be doing some hard time on the ground. Step back and visualize the fountain or vase shape and keep that in mind. Start by removing the oldest, tallest, and woodiest canes as well as the dead ones, cutting right from the base. Take out the ones that cross over each other. There may be more than you want to tackle. In that case, just get rid of those that bother your aesthetic sensitivity the most.
Stand back once in awhile to make sure you're keeping that fountain shape. If new plants have rooted where canes touch the ground, you can dig them up and move them or give them away. Then cut back the tips of the mother cane to keep it from rooting again. Keep thinning until you've achieved an airy, more graceful shape…or at least one that doesn't make you crazy!
Don't worry if you get a little carried away; forsythia is one of those plants that can take a lot of abuse and still come back with a vengeance. Just be aware that pruning won't change a plant's genetics. Attempting to force a full-grown forsythia into being compact is like trying to turn Michael Jordan into Michael J. Fox.

If you'd like detailed information on the proper way to prune a wide variety of plants, contact Plant Amnesty, a non-profit organization whose goal is to "end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs." According to its well written and humor-filled website, Plant Amnesty exists "to educate the commercial and public sectors on responsible, appropriate pruning and landscape management practices, establishing a standard of quality care for the urban ecology."
Not only will this website give you information on how and when to prune, but it offers advice on how to choose a good arborist, a pop quiz on trees, a place to order goods and services, and a sad-but-funny collection of "weird yard art"…photos of plants that have been pruned into strange and ugly shapes. You can access the site at www.plantamnesty.org. If you don't have a computer, the local library can help you get on line. You may write to Plant Amnesty at P.O. Box 15377, Seattle, WA 98115-0377. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you'd like them to mail information.

Garden questions or comments? Call 675-6611; fax 675-2732, or wnt@whidbey.net. Mariana Graham is an Island County Master Gardener and member, Garden Writers Association of America.

MASTER GARDENER CLINICS (click on picture)
Master Gardener plant clinics are being held at various Island locations throughout the summer. On the North end, bring questions and plant samples to The Greenhouse Nursery each Saturday in July from 9 a.m. to noon, Cenex on Aug. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or the Navy Exchange Garden Shop June 30th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In Central Whidbey, it's at the Coupeville Farmers Market each Saturday through the end of July from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. South end clinics include Freeland Ace Hardware from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 23, July 28, Aug. 25 and Sept. 22. You can also find Master Gardeners at South Whidbey Tilth on July 7, Aug. 4, and Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Clinics are held at Bayview Farm and Garden June 30th, July 7, 14, 21, 28; Aug. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Clinics may be scheduled at other locations when volunteers and resource materials are available. 'Can't make it to a plant clinic? Call the Master Gardener hotline (360) 679-7327 each Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the end of September.