Comments on: from the forums: pruning viburnums

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:14:03 +0000

Hi, Lee. Here, too! With the water sprouts (vertical shoots off the branches) I always remove them -- architecturally, placed so vertically and at a 90-degree angle from the branches, how can they ever amount to anything productive? With the suckers from the base, I am usually inclined to get rid of them unless I have a declining branch on the plant that one of them might replace (if it's positioned well) but usually they, too, are just a mess that overtakes the shape of the plant. More pruning info is on my FAQ page.

By: Lee Williamson

Lee Williamson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:06:14 +0000

I live in western Washington state and have several Wentworth viburnum that grew really well this year and have sent up some long vertical shoots from either the base of the plant or from some branches. Will these develop into desirable branches or should they be removed?

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:15:54 +0000

I’m sorry to be posting so soon again. I just had a thought. The canker on my “baby viburnums” was like a ‘narly” growth, not like what I’m seeing on the mariesii. I took out dead sections of those bushes and disposed of those in garden bags put out for the trash.