In late winter/early spring, I am...

Question

In late winter/early spring, I am going to prune a large burning bush. I want to prune it to about half its size. Is that too much?

Answer

You don’t say what type of burning bush you own, but the most common variety is ‘Compactus’, which is a silly name for a plant that can grow ten feet tall. In fact, unless you have a dwarf version of the shrub, such as ‘Nordine Strain’ or ‘Rudy Haag’, you’re going to end up with a pretty big plant. We didn’t find any information on whether such excessive pruning will harm the plant, but since it sounds as if you want a smaller shrub anyway, go ahead and try it. If the plant dies, you can replace it with one of the smaller versions.