Hebe Help!!

Hi i needsome advice on a very large messy hebe....I moved to the house am in now and there are some lovely shrubs etc planted one being a hebe dark green leaves purple flowers...well its completely gone wild i dont know when or if its been pruned ever and its lovely until about 2 foot up when its just stalk then on top of stalk about 4-5 foot up there are some more lovely leaves/flowers so i have about 2 foot of scraggly mess...What i am after is some advice what to do...Can i cut it back hard to reshape etc as all the main branches are tangled and crossing too or should i just cut the stalky bits taking it back to about 2 foot let it try again or just leave?Also when should i do this as ive been told not to touch it as its flowering but it looks awfull!!Thanks

I have a very overgrown small leaf Hebe in my front garden that I forgot to prune for ten years. Some idiot threw a lump of concrete into its centre a few weeks back, breaking all the branches and leaving it less than rotund in shape.

So, I took the opportunity to prune it hard back, taking three layered plants from its base (where the branches touch the ground and root themselves)  in case my plan failed. I cut back half the branches quite radically and left the other half intact to see if it would flower and also to reduce stress for the plant.

Since then, it has successfully broken bud on the hard pruned branches and I shall be pruning the rest after flowering, which is the usual time to prune small leaved Hebes into shape.

Cut it back now if you don't mind losing the flowers, otherwise imediately after flowering is also a good time. Hebes can be slightly tender, so you want to give the plant plenty of good weather to make new leaf. They often suffer frost damage in late winter that can be cut out in late spring, but they are tough plants really and you shouldn't lose it.

A feed might be gratefully received if you are going to butcher it, just try not to rob it completely of leaf. If it needs a severe pruning, think of it as a two year job and do half this year and half next.

If you want to chop it while it's flowering then do so. Apparently hebes are not happy with drastic chopping. I have a very similar one to yours which was very bare apart from about the top third. I cut it back to about 2 ft or so thinking, 'Just survive or die'. It survived and took a long time to come back but it did in the end. In your situation I think I'd cut just below the scraggy bits and see what happens next year.

Thanks you have both confirmed what i want to do thanks i am going to cut to about 2 foot where its lovely and bushy,then after its flowered see how it goes then maybe cut right back later on thanks

One more question...how about the dead branches there are loads that arnt doing anything they have no leaf etc would it be ok to cut these right down?

Yes, cut them right out.

Thanks....taken dead wood out looks better already

Yours sounds like one that I've got. To be on the safe side , push some of the bits you cut off into some pots. I've done this when I've knocked a bit off with the mower by carelessness, and they always take. Very easy to propagate, so after a few years you could replace the old one with a new plant.

i have various hebe's flowering at different times of the year, and most of them are straggly, never sure how hard to cut them back or when, so, i've not done anything, is it too late in the year to chop them back now? or should i leave it till Spring?

If cutting back Hebe now only cut back half and take cuttings to be safe they root easily,The other half cut back next year when the half you cut this year has re grown.  I knocked a big lump off one this year when I fell over a brick! it has refurnished itself and you would never know that half has gone! (I think I suffered the most)  Overwinter the cuttings under cover or start on the window ledge and put out in spring.  Does anyone know of a reasonable priced web nursery that sells the Autumn Flowering Cherry? my local nursery is asking £29 which I feel is a bit on the pricey side, after all a plum tree that fruits does not cost half that!