Elaeagnus

agoodrum

Hi all.  Does anybody know if I can prune back our evergreen Elaeagnus right back to its main stem?  Then I hope it would grow new leaves in the spring.
Over the years it has grown away from the fence even though I prune it every year.  Just not very well though 😕. 
Thanks in advance. 

Fairygirl

It would be natural for it to grow away from a fence - especially if it's needing more light than it has in it's site. They're naturally large shrubs - in every direction. 
You can certainly prune them quite hard without any problem, but perhaps it isn't the best shrub for the location if it's always too big.
Depending on what you're trying to achieve, you could remove whole branches back to the main trunk and see if that works better for you, and then do it with a hedge trimmer in spring/summer   

agoodrum

Thanks for the reply fairygirl. 👍 
I would like to keep it 'tighter' to the fence but it has taken ten years to overcome my previous methods of keeping it in check!!
I will try taking it back to the main trunk, as you suggest, and see what happens with any new growth. 
Cheers.