why prune them at all ..

they will continue to grow.. as they want.. and will fill in in good enough time ..

i dont understand why truncating the branches.. will make it grow faster in that direction ...

nor why topping make it grow faster sideways ...

a pic might change my mind.. but i doubt it

ken

Seems to me that the way to get them to grow faster is to STOP PRUNING THEM. If you wanted your child to grow faster, robbing them of food would not be the way to do it. Same with plants, pruning them takes away their food (not to mention making them use resources to deal with the aftermath of pruning). Directional pruning might make a small difference in the short run, but probably isn't the best way to accomplish your goal in the long run.

IMO viburnums are not the sort of plant that you prune into a specific shape. They are wild, full, space filling plants that provide cover and food for birds.
They aren't really hedge material and that sounds like the effect you are going for.
They will fill out all on their own if left alone.

Now- if they have been in place (and left alone to grow) five plus years and still not seeming to fill out enough then perhaps another shrub would do a better job of what you want.
Or a row of smaller shrubs in front could also help fill in any gaps.

We have quit a few viburnum hedges here in Florida, quite popular. A little pruning to maintain a shape and desired height.

My questions was, when you prune a shrub does it encourage growth on the side pruned ?

Your question has been answered; pruning discourages new growth. The plant will try to regrow what it lost, but will lag behind where it would have been sans pruning.

I found the answer elsewhere,
pruning cut with shears, you stop plant growth in one direction and start it in another. Always prune to a growing point which faces in the direction you want the plant to develop.

Bobbee2009,

It appears that you have not only completely misunderstood the material you found, but that you also don't really want to accept the answers you seek! You can change the direction of the growing tips on a relatively micro-scale, but this DOES NOT change the overall shape in which your plant will try to grow. The overall tendency for plants to grow in certain directions and ways is controlled by things like genetics, gravity, and light exposure. You can make the plant take a SMALL detour by pruning as you mentioned, but this only slows the journey and has no effect on the final destination.

If it makes you feel better to believe differently, fine; work out your own explanations or ideas and pay no attention to the facts. And, of course, there's no real reason to ask people here, many of which have advanced degrees in horticulture or related fields, or, work in the nursery/landscaping/forestry/etc industry on a daily basis.

Maybe I was wrong, so while shopping at 2 local nurseries and meeting a local landscaper I asked what is the best shrub for a privacy fence around here. All 3 stated "sweet viburnum".

Riding around town I observed the various hedges, viburnum won hands down.

How to get more growth on the bottom sections?. Prune it so the top is smaller and therefore the bottom will get more sun.

So much for advance degrees etc.

Well, first, you have to realize that pruning healthy branches will have a net negative effect on growth; the shrub will be smaller, overall, than if you hadn't pruned. Then, you have to ask if the gain in growth on lower levels, due to increased sunlight, would more than compensate for the overall decrease in size, and the answer wouldn't necessarily be the same for different types of shrubs. From my experience with viburnums (I personally grow over a dozen species) and based on my perception of your proposal, I wouldn't expect the lower growth to increase enough to compensate for overall loss in vigor unless you remove a substantial amount of upper foliage. One thing that probably would occur is that the lower growth could become more dense (more leaf surface per area), which might be desirable. If it were me, I'd concentrate on growing healthy plants and maybe even trying to increase vigor through proper watering, mulching, and maybe even fertilization. I believe you'd get better results by encouraging growth rather than pruning. Happy viburnums can be very very fast growers. As a caveat, do realize that over-fertilization can be unhealthy and lead to problems (floppy growth, disease, etc).

bobbee - are you trying to grow an actual formal hedge or more a row of free form shrubs which happen to touch each other? If you really want a hedge you could try the technique of taking a low branch from two neighbouring bushes, tying them together at the tips and then pegging them down near the ground. This would encourage vertical shoots from the horizontal branches. This is training rather than pruning.

Pruning is generally thought to be a growth stimulating exercise. To encourage lateral branching, you'll need to prune selected branches down to AN OUTWARD GROWING bud. Directional pruning is an essential skill required deloping a superior scaffolding system for shade trees, fruit trees, and other plants.

This type of pruning is done with hand pruners. Very little removal can result in substantial changes to a plant's infrastructure.

Directional pruning might best be accomplished in the late winter/early spring....when those buds are dormant but swollen and you can better see what you're doing. Doing it at this time of year might be taxing as the plants scramble to regrow in the heat of summer.

Pruning may be thought of as a re-growth stimulating exercise, but should never be thought of as a growth stimulating exercise. Removal of live branches doesn't encourage plant growth any more than skipping meals encourages human growth.

Encourage lateral branching can "thicken up" a shrub, but won't make the shrub grow larger around - Bobbee's goal.

Hello, I'm curious as to how your viburnums are doing. I just planted 12 3gal sweet viburnums about 5 weeks ago in northern FL. My intention is to have a formal hedge. I'm open for any tips. I.e. Fertilizer, watering, pruning/ training suggestions. Thanks

you should have started your own post.. for advice on your plants ...

NEVER FERT A RECENT TRANSPLANT ... and frankly .. never a shrub.. unless a soil test indicates something is lacking in your soil ..

ken