{"id":6346,"date":"2015-11-24T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T17:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=6346"},"modified":"2015-11-15T19:08:35","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T00:08:35","slug":"stop-destroying-forsythias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2015\/11\/24\/stop-destroying-forsythias\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Destroying Forsythias"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Forsythia<\/a>

Forsythia ‘Gold Tide’ in summer at NC Arboretum in Asheville, NC<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Large<\/a>

Large Forsythia x intermedia needs annual pruning<\/p><\/div>\n

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Forsythia (Forsythia spp<\/em>.),\u00a0also called\u00a0“yellow bells”, is an extremely\u00a0popular spring flowering shrub (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Their bright yellow flowers signal\u00a0the\u00a0coming of\u00a0spring. However,\u00a0many gardeners do not\u00a0know how to prune them.<\/p>\n

Tall 8-12 foot forms of F. x intermedia<\/em> are\u00a0commonly sold at\u00a0most U.S. \u00a0garden centers.\u00a0Forsythias grow from\u00a02 to 10 feet\u00a0high and 4 to 12 feet wide depending on species and cultivars. Natural\u00a0shrub form\u00a0is arching.\u00a0\u00a0Many forsythias outgrow their space\u00a0within a few years.<\/p>\n

They are\u00a0frequently planted too close to\u00a0building and home foundations. What\u00a0results is\u00a0clipped boxy hedges or\u00a0round balls with few flowers. Fall pruning\u00a0also removes\u00a0a majority of\u00a0the pre-formed spring flower buds, which is\u00a0the main reason you\u00a0grow forsythia.<\/p>\n

Forsythias bloom best in full or partially sunny location. They’re not fussy, growing in any average soi,l and are insensitive to acidic or alkaline pH soils. They have few pest problems\u00a0although deer\u00a0browsing in some areas. Spread a slow-release shrub fertilizer in spring if growth is slow or if flowering is sparse.<\/p>\n

Prune\u00a0immediately after\u00a0flowering has finished in spring.\u00a0Cut out\u00a0one-third of the stems\u00a0to the ground each year\u00a0to retain\u00a0its natural arching\u00a0form\u00a0plus tip prune to\u00a0reduce\u00a0overall size.<\/p>\n

Forsythias make\u00a0excellent specimen shrubs; group several 6-8 feet apart to create a hedge;\u00a0plant on steep bank for erosion management.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0small sized forsythias, try Gold Tide \u00ae (Courtasol’) that grows 1 –\u00a02 feet\u00a0tall and\u00a0\u00a02-4 feet wide. \u2018Little Renee\u2019 grows\u00a02 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Goldilocks\u00ae \u00a0(‘Courtacour’) @ 2-3 feet tall and wide;\u00a0\u2018Show Off\u2019\u00a0@ 5\u00a0feet tall and\u00a06 feet wide; ‘Fiesta’ @ 5 to 6 feet tall and\u00a0wide\u00a0and variegated leaves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Forsythia (Forsythia spp.),\u00a0also called\u00a0“yellow bells”, is an extremely\u00a0popular spring flowering shrub (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Their bright yellow flowers signal\u00a0the\u00a0coming of\u00a0spring. However,\u00a0many gardeners do not\u00a0know how to prune them. Tall 8-12 foot forms of F. x intermedia are\u00a0commonly sold at\u00a0most U.S. \u00a0garden centers.\u00a0Forsythias grow from\u00a02 to 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,398,674,645,806,665,1112,774,551,1217,843,936,1060,601,729,933,777,630,705,646,7,113,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6346"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8339,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6346\/revisions\/8339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}