Too late to cut back either the Lilac as it is in bud, you would appear to have already cut off all the new growth from the Forsythia as I can't see any buds. As for the Fuchsia pot looks far to small and the soil looks dry... also if it is sitting in a cache type pot with no drainage it will not be happy. Suggest you get planted i the ground and cut right back, you won't get any flowers this year but it might just give it a chance to establish itself.

I fear you have pruned back the Forsythia much too far and it will not flower this year as you've removed all the branches with flower buds. . But it will recover. Cut back immediately after flowering but only cut off the flowered branches. They flower on branches that grew the preceding year.

Don't worry about the lilac - young ones do look rather spindly. Wait until it has leafed up and then you can cut off any obviously dead branches. No harm in giving it a feed in a week or two.

Fuchsias are not growing yet in most places. Wait until you can see lots of new green growth at the base of the plant and then you can prune it right back . But it needs to be in the ground if its a hardy one.

Oops sorry MG, your reply appeared while I was writing mine...

Forsythia should be pruned after flowering so it has the rest of the year to form new flower buds for spring. it looks healthy so why remove it?
the fuchsia may well regrow and you can either do as moongrower suggests and prune it now or wait and see if it does reshoot.

as for the lilac wait until it has flowered and then prune out the twigs you don't want and reshape it then.

ditto for me stera :o)

MG,cut the forsythia right down early last summer after flowering,it was huge and had loads of dead twigs under it,so really went to town on it!!!!

The LILAC,do you mean after it has leaves,cut off any dead stragglers there is?

The Fuchsia,winter before last,I bought it indoors and it went as the pic is now and in the summer it was gorgeous,
didn`t bother this year,was in a frost free corner ,where it was protected.

Thank you all for your kind imput.

Would like to add pic of the flowered fuchsia here but don`t seem to be able to.Will send separate

I would have cut the forsythia back even farther, but I am surprised at how little growth it put on last summer. Did it get sheared often last summer, or cut back again in the fall?
As for the lilac, I would just clean it up and simplify it right after the flowers fade, leaving at least 1/2 of the branches intact, to it can bloom next spring.

Hi, I agree with Tugbrethil as you're not going to get any flowers this year, I would cut it back almost to ground level, that way you will get loads of new young shoots for flowering next year, and be rid of all that unsightly old wood, Derek.

Hi
Yes the Forsythia did get cut back a lot last summer...it really one to be "drastic" as it was so huge and twiggy.
I looked yesterday at my Fuchsia and there are now leaves beginning to grow amazing from one day to the next how it suddenly began to.
So the Lilac will have to be left now until after flowering and then tidy it up.
Thank you all ,so much...where would I be without your expert advice,

Cate

I have seen a typing error...

" really needed to be "drastic"....

Cate

Sorry, Cate! What I meant is, was it pruned or sheared frequently after the major cut down, or was it cut down late last summer, rather than immediately after bloom?

No,Tug,it was cut down the end of June last year.
Was overtaking the garden.
Just had a look at it and there are a few leaves just beginning to sprout.
Will have to see how it does.

The ones I'm familiar with in Flagstaff, Arizona bloomed in April, and that is a colder climate than most of the UK. So, I would count late June as quite late to prune, especially since yours are already budding out this year.

I will in future,prune after flowering...if it ever flowers again!!!

It is amazing how they recover after being drastically cut down.
Cate

It's a tough plant, like most members of the Ash family.