Absolutely can be rejuvenation pruned. Also yes to renewal pruning.

If you're going to cut it down low do it right away. If it keeps developing a large amount of dead branches under your conditions remove and replace with something that doesn't have that tendency.

what they said...

but i have owed 3 of them over the decades ... mom/dads house... and my 2 houses ..

and frankly.. if you get them to live 10 years.. you are way out there on the long lived side of the equation ... they are what we might call.. short lived plants ...

sooo ... prune away on it.. and if it dies.. so be it ... its going to anyway ....

or... just be done with it ...

besides.. it was a prior owners mistake [imo] .. and no plant that you have invested memories ... so whats to lose ...

ken

ps: if you replant.. dont put rocks right up the the trunk ....

I inherited the rocks and it's the north side of the house so sun does not beat on it at all. Stays very cool. Hard to keep the leaves purple so little sun.

I'll try to prune and can always take it all out if results are not desirable.

Not too bad. pruned it down to 18" tall, just above new growth coming. About 3 ft. tall now and nice & full. Any other suggestions or do I just let it go for a while?

Wow, nice! Very nice regrowth!

Thanks for the update.

tj

Just let it go for a while, in my opinion. Thanks for the update!

Almost good as new. :-)

thx for the followup ...

after it loses its leaves.. that might give you some idea of future pruning ...

ken

Beautiful response to the pruning.

After a fairly mild winter with a lot of snow cover, the tree came back looking quite good. But, I don't know what happened, I think it was our Mothers day extreme freeze or maybe it is the end of the line for this plant that's maybe 30 yo.

I'll be digging it out and replacing with a Ninebark 'diablo' bc the wife likes the purplish leaf color and both the 'sandcherry' we found at the nursery had dead parts on the trunks also.

The height of the NB should be good for what she wants and this one is listed as 'part sun' which is all it will get on this northern exposure.

Just an FYI, but Diabolo has the ability to get to 12' tall and with an equal spread.

Thanks gg,

I had to prune the top of the sand cherry off occasionally too, I'd rather have it a bit on the tall side than the other way around.

Will there be any other issues with taking the SC stump out and putting the NB in the exact same spot?

I shouldn't think so :-) And the ninebark can certainly be cut back annually but will regrow to its former size.

The existing spot is 6 ft from the house and although the bay window protrudes a foot or more from the side of the house, it's still in the ball park. :-)

It's only 2 feet from the side of the steps so that's where I notice 'the bulge' first, into the walkway by lower railing but not much choice as the rocks narrow quickly which would put you closer to the house if you went that direction. But we've always liked it there so nbd.

A big part of the charm for 'Diabolo' is the flowers so I wouldn't grow one as a stool that is cut down low every year.

Thanks for the tip Embo.

The wife prefers that it grow up into the widow a bit so I think this will be a perfect replacement.

The house shadow increases as the day goes on. I'm sure only for a few months this time of year.

This picture was taken at 3:00 pm. So no problem having enough sun on this spot. I think the mornings will still get shade here, soon after the sun rises, we just won't know unless I'm up early for some reason. haha.

Update on the Ninebark:

It likes it here! :-) Pushing new growth that turns maroon/purple immediately.

It came with an abundance or those little blue balls (fertilizer?) in the pot, If it is I hope it's not too long lasting. It gets watered lavishly and every little shower of rain comes down the rain spout too so that may dissipate the fert early..

I see a little sport of a leaf that stays partially green. Does that mean I'm rich? haha

The nine bark made it through the first summer. :-)

Grew about a foot.

I put some wire around it remembering how the rabbits winter pruned my Spirea.

9-11-2023:

Just ran across this thread so thought an update would be in order.

Planted 6-19-2020: Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'.

Haven't done any pruning since planting except a branch or two by the steps.