Entire forsythia cut down

andnilsen76_G4yEz_

Help! My neighbour cut down his entire forsythia bush. All the way to the ground, and without asking. Fantastically pointless if you ask me, since it gave me a lot of privacy. 

Will it grow back? 

Dovefromabove

Yes … ours regrew when the chap taking out the conifers chopped it down by mistake. It took a few years to get Yo a decent size again. 

However, if it’s your neighbour’s forsythia he can cut it down if that's his choice … surely he doesn’t have to ask anyone … if you want one you’ll have to plant it in your garden 😊 

andnilsen76_G4yEz_

Thanks for the quick answer! Yes, I know it’s his, but it just seemed so pointless. My post was partly written in semi-anger ;-) 

AnniD

I think you'll be surprised at how quickly it regrows, but l think l'm right in saying that there might not be many flowers next Spring. They can get out of control if not cut back each year (although not as drastically).
 Our neighbour's one must be 7 feet high, his hedge cutting people never cut it back hard enough and it has very few flowers that are mostly at the top.
I hope your blood pressure is lower now  

mandyroberts99

MY OH absolutely culled mine and it grew back better. I now supervise him when he helps me....

Dovefromabove

😂 … I s’pose it’s better ranting to us than shouting at him 😉 

If they’ve been badly pruned in the past, resulting in a bright yellow big brush, cutting hard back and starting again is a way of achieving a much more pleasing light and airy shrub … forsythia can be a very attractive shaped shrub if not trimmed ‘hedge- style’ with shears. 

Hostafan1

I had one which was about 8ft x 8ft. I cut mine down to soil level and it tried to regrow.
I put a compost bag over the stump and compost to block out light. I think it's given up now.

Obelixx

Hacking back a forsythia every few years is the best way to retain and encourage vigour and better flowering the following year.

As has been said, it's not your shrub and not your business.  If you want privacy you need to find a suitable shrub/fence/trellis screen for your own garden.

andnilsen76_G4yEz_

Thanks for the quick answers! The reason I got a bit irritated was because the neighbour has just moved in, and has cleared off everything that functioned as a screen between our garden and other neighbours. In my opinion you ask or at least give a notice before you remove hedges/bushes that are placed 50/50 on both properties. 

LG_

I cut 1/3 - 1/2 of the stems to the base every year, straight after flowering. You'd never know now, just a few weeks later. 

Dovefromabove

LG_ said:

I cut 1/3 - 1/2 of the stems to the base every year, straight after flowering. You'd never know now, just a few weeks later. 

That's the way to do it!!! 

Not clipping it all over with the shears or electric hedging clippers