Trimming the forsythia

These aren't the best of photos, but they document what I got done on Sunday. This is the largest of the two forsythia bushes in our back garden. I got out there with the hedge trimmers to neaten them up. I think that I should have trimmed a lot more aggressively now that I see the photos, but it's good enough for now. I read that the time to trim forsythia is right after they flower. Now is the time. Both of the bushes had grown so large that I couldn't get the lawnmower around and under them. Happens every year.

The large forsythia just before I trimmed it. I needed a ladder to reach the top.

The second bush is next to that first one, to the left out of the picture, but it's about a third of the size. I think a fungus got to it and it wasn't as healthy. Last fall, Ken poured a bleach solution on the roots and that seems to have helped it.

And the result. Not small enough, and a little lop-sided. Maybe next year I'll get it right.

I also took the hedge trimmer to the juniper bush that grows on the north side of the house. It's a large round shrub and the spring growth gets in the way of cutting the grass. So, every year I have to cut it back. Done for another year. Yay!