a pic would sure be better than a few thousand more words ...

need more info.. soil type.. watering... any drought in last 2 years.. what was winter.. was it buried in snow.. or rare no snow cover winter ... etc .. full sun .. any fert??? .. etc again ...

the process you started is called rejuvenation pruning ... and is the same for all shrubs ... no real rules specific to Ws ... see link and learn yourself up ... might even find some videos ....

i think you might be a month or 6 weeks early.. to be worrying about hardening off for winter .... however if you dump a bunch of fert around it.. which i never recommend ... that could be an issue.. especially if time release ...

couple pix, please ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=rejuvenation+pruning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Nice of you to respond. Yes, here are some photos, although I don't know if they will be helpful. Second photo shows where a large branch came out months ago and little growing in it's place. I stuck the camera way in the hole left from the branch (on the left side of the shrub) and the new growth is maybe 2 or 3 inches high. Third photo (and to some extent first) shows gaps left from branch removal on left and right. It was a lovely round thing before.

Amended clay based soil so it holds moisture well. I'm don't coddle and water things unless we get drought. Been in the ground for about 8 years so it should be settled. Snowcover never an issue here. It was totally covered in snow although some tips may have been out of the snow, but still it is only a zone 4 plant. Full sun. Fertilized only occasionally by adding mushroom compost every few years. I didn't think they were heavy feeders. My comment about hardening off is from my use of chemical fertilizer for specific plants at specific times when I want to accelerate growth. From what I have read / understand one should never use it on shrubs, etc. after July 1st due to difficulty with things hardening off. So I assumed (perhaps wrongly) any growth at all on shrubs (not even resulting from chemical fertilizer) would not be likely to harden off enough for winter.

I asked a local garden centre about my lack of flowers. She said it was a hard year for weigelias in our area and that perhaps I cut off too much top growth last year (don't think so and it was just after flowering time , not later). She also said I might try some lime - which I did just a few weeks ago, although I highly doubt I have acidic soil. But, I have not had as many years of practice pruning weigelias as other things so as you say I still have things to learn.

I'd try mulching it and discontinuation of the shearing into an artificially constricted shape, which is incompatible with the informal setting. And will probably be reducing flowering somewhat, although not of course eliminating it entirely. Dying back due to cold damage would also be expected to cut into the flowering display the following year.

Don't add lime or other products unless you have specific information calling for them like a soil test report, or poor leaf coloring that is known to be associated with a specific deficiency prevalent in your area.

It takes a large amount of lime to change the pH of a soil even one point, with each point on the scale being a quite big increment. This change needs to be undertaken slowly, as dumping on enough lime at one time to change the pH that much is traumatic to the living soil system.

I actually do regularly take some of the larger stems to the base the last few years. I don't think I have done this early enough in the plant's life and so it does not significantly open it up for new growth. Perhaps you are right that I should avoid any of the aesthetic pruning for shape at all. I just went out and trimmed another 5 stems to the base - for better or for worse. What a mess now. Sure hope I get some new growth that hardens off between them before winter. I know what you mean about the "shearing" and some of my neighbours do that sort of pruning on their weigelias (just before flowering time even) and to my disgust (!) still get flowers. I will try to think of them like my hardy climbing rose bushes from now on. I can't compare it to lilacs because the deer eat mine so badly they die before they can be pruned no matter how large a plant I buy.