Rejuvenating Shrubs
By Sjw
gloucestershire,
United Kingdom 
We have recently moved to a house where the garden is full of shrubs, many are overgrown and entwined with one another. I wondered if you prune pittosporum hard back does it regrow, the red robin does and ceanothus seems to. It is too large where it is, I don't know how well it would cope with being moved, so pruning would be an option, if it were to regrow. Anybody out there had the same problem
10 Mar, 2009
Answers
Only prune the shrubs that aren't just about to flower. As a general rule prune shrubs after f;owering. Don't prune the Ceanothus or you will lose it in a couple of years, they hate being pruned. You could prune out any branches that are really wayward and wait to see what types they all are before you decide which to prune.
10 Mar, 2009
Also, Ceanothus will only survive for about 10 - 15 years. So if it should die off, it may not be a result of your pruning. It may be the case that you have inadvertently prolonged it's life ( new growth and all that ) ?
11 Mar, 2009
Previous question
« It sounds a lovely idea but what variety of lettuce can you harvest this way?
Pittosporums will regenerate well if cut hard back but are not the hardiest of shrubs. As you don't say where you live in the UK, I would advise doing it sometime in spring when the worst threat of frost has passed. It may take a few weeks to start shooting again but have patience, it will get there in the end. I would also give it a good feed to encourage the new growth as well
10 Mar, 2009