The Lowly, Old-Fashioned Weigela

Be it ever so humble, I recommend weigelas whenever people need big, fast-growing filler plants to create a sense of having a garden.  Make that to create a garden, especially for the low-maintenance crowd.  So in my recent video about Sustainable Gardening I stood in front of these weigelas while holding the brand-new one below, still potted, exclaiming that they only cost 15 bucks and don't look like much now but "they grow fast and before you know  it, they'll look like these," pointing to the 5- and 7-foot versions that were on my property when I bought it back in '85.

In their new home, against the porch foundation of a client, it's easy to imagine how they'll transform the space in a couple of years or so.

And here's why they qualify as plants for sustainable gardens.  Besides their size and naturally nice form, they're about as drought-tolerant as anything but actual succulents can be, mine being neglected regularly in droughts with no complaint.

But a confession.  For my first 18 years or so growing these plants their shape wasn't so great - think top-heavy, lop-sided and just off - and I had no fricking idea how to prune them back into some semblance of a pleasing shape.  Until I finally took up the pruning challenge by attending any and all talks and demonstrations I could find on the subject and investing in a really good book on the subject (Pruning by McHoy).  And emboldened by actual experts telling me to do it, I lopped these babies back to the ground, I tell you.  Okay, to 6 inches from the ground, but close enough.  But that same season they came roaring back to half this size and now, a year later, one is back to its 7' stature and the other will get there soon.

And NOW I know how to keep them looking their best - renewal pruning.  OMIGOD, it's gotta be the least amount of work for the biggest pay-off of any gardening task at all.  It just amounts to removing two or three of the oldest and/or tallest stems back to the ground every year.  It's weird and counter-intuitive to remove the tallest stems, so the gardener feels particularly smart doing it because she knows it works like a charm.  I treat most of my viburnums this way, too.

And on the right is another lovely weigela, a shorter one called 'White Knight," which isn't white but a very pale pink.  The only pruning this has required so far is a little limbing up to keep it off the groundcover. 

Weiglas are definitely NOT hot-hot in 2007; they're shrubs from our grandmothers' gardens.  And they won't thrill the plant collector, nosiree.  But you couldn't ask for a greater contribution to the overall beauty of a garden. 

 

Comments

[Carol]

But don't we yearn for our grandmother's gardens part of the time, anyway?

[Bogie]

My varigated and Wine and Roses weigela are blooming right now - reminding me why I love them. The Wine and Roses will repeat later in the season too. They aren't very old, 3-4 years, but the varigated is about 5 feet tall and the W&R is 4 feet tall.

Along with the mass of phlox I planted, these two shrubs make me look like an absolute genious of a gardener without my so much as lifting a finger after planting them!

[susan harriss]

Wine and Roses - I have one of those, too, but I've never figured out where to put it where its dark foliage has any impact at all. Luckily, my next-door neighbor loves it so I donated it to her curb-side garden, where it's seen up close and against the backdrop of sidewalk and pavement.

[Sylvana]

Spirea also do well with aggressive pruning. I didn't figure this out until I sent my son out to rake one year and he lopped one back to just 6 inches above the ground on one side so he could get under it to rake. I nearly died since it was a 5 year old shrub and just getting to the size that I needed it to be. Even though I was fairly certain that he had killed it, I told him to prune the rest of it to make it even and we would see what would happen. I was so impressed with the results that I started having him prune down all my others too!
I haven't tried this with my weigelas, but I might start next year.

[Layanee]

Weigelas have come a long way since our grandmother's day! Now available in so many sizes and foliage colors there is something for everyone! Even that new little one called 'My Monet' which I don't have yet. Has anyone else given it a try? Expensive for a little plant but it is a Proven Winner trademark. Thanks for the reminder Susan, I have to go to the nursery now!

[Kathy, Washington Gardener]

I am trialing "My Monet' and another new mini-wiegela with a light-green foilage edge (My Monet has white edging) - so far they are very small - like the size of a marigold plant - but otherwise doing fine in part shade, zone 7, and no extra coddling. I will give them a little time to see if they fill out.

[Paula Coughlin]

Hi- I just purchased three of the carnaval wiegelas and transplanted them from thier containers about three weeks ago. They have bloomed once and one of them has a few more blooms, but basically they are just leaves right now. All the websites say to prune these annually, but do I prune them if they are just planted this year? If so, does anyone have a site they recommend to guide me how to prune them? Thanks so much.

[susan harris]

Brand new weigelas don't need to be pruned at all, for at least a few years. Oh, maybe remove the lowest limbs that are lying on the ground, but that's it. Then once they're full grown, I'd start the renewal pruning every year immediately after flowering - which means removing the tallest and oldest 1/3 of the stems to the ground.

[Paula Coughlin]

Ok thanks! By "after flowering" do you mean the first set of blooms in the spring or wait until the second phase in late June or early July? I see it worded differently on different sites, so any advice would be appreciated