Question
QUESTION: Gill,
 I sincerely appreciate you being here. I, too, am a volunteer but in Automotive Parts... Hence the name CarPartMan.
 My wife, over the years, has planted various plants in the yard. We are in Kansas City, Missouri in America.
 The Shrubs are beginning to take over the yard!! It has been raining a lot here.  
 My question to you is this: When is the best time to "prune" back the bushes? I don't want to take electric hedge clippers to them, I just want to prune them back, one branch at a time, until a reasonable size with pruning sheers.
 Some of the bushes are flowering and some are not. I can get you a list of the "types" of bushes IF it makes a difference. I'm sure it will. I sell Auto Parts, Okay??  
 Please understand, this is a "general question" and whatever the answer is, you will get high marks.
 I feel like a customer that walks into my store looking for an oil filter but can't tell me what year, make and model of car he has. I'm an idiot when it comes to this and I'm sorry. ANY direction with this problem would be appreciated.
Skip
P.S. Thank you for B.P. I know it isn't your fault but just had to rub it in.. Sick American Humor (proper spelling!!)
Skip, again..

ANSWER: Hello Skip

Yes, a list of plants names will be very useful - as you obviously appreciate, one size doesn't fit all!

By the way - you are not an idiot - you just don't know plants!  I don't know my way around Auto parts - I might know what it's called, but darned if I know where it goes!

BP - Imagine silent scream coming from here!  I'm glad you don't hold me personally responsible -I didn't found the company, don't own any part of it - not even one share! I'm so sorry for what's happened, it's tragedy!

I know about American spelling - what's 'proper' about it?  #English humour!!#

Gill

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QUESTION: Gill,
AH!! A person with a sense of humor <--proper spelling!!. I will get a list from Kay and let you know. It may be "generic" plant names like Burning Bush or green bush with white flowers... Seriously, I will do my best. I KNOW we are not smart enough to come with Harmonica Bibulous or any of those Latin terms. I may need to take photos!! I would, then, need an eMail address but we can continue in this venue until your questions outlast my intelligence!! Thank you for your help.
Skip

ANSWER: Hi again Skip

Imagine, if you will, a Professor of English type spluttering into his/her cup of tea whilst contemplating the spelling of 'humor'!  Oh - this could run and run!!

Generic names shouldn't be a problem, but 'green bush with white flowers' might be - that bush grows EVERYWHERE!!  Unlike the Harmonica Bibulous, which only grows in the vicinity of Larry Adler!

Look forward to receiving your list!

Gill

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QUESTION: Gill,
  Problem solved,,, Humor OR Humour = Funny or Funnies. Who needs a Professor?? To the plants (Man, are you going to love this!!)
  Burning Bush, Japanese (sp??) Ewes, Lilac Bushes, Hibiscus and (the best for last) Winegot (Kay thinks, about the spelling).  It is, what I would call, a "spiny" bush. The main part of the bush has "bark" on it and the "branches" are about 1/4" to 3/8". Not sure what that is in MM. The Red flower is tall, about 2" and narrow, unlike a Rose.
  In closing, the temperature here right now is in the 100's. Again, no clue as to Celsius but hotter than the shades of hades!! No rush on this as it is too hot to get out there right now.
  I plan on "Hand Pruning" these bushes, not taking an electric hedge trimmer to them, if that makes a difference. Just when you have a chance. Thank you for your time and effort in this venture.. Have a beer and keep cool..
Skip

Answer
Skip - Hi

You can relax with you beer for the summer - in fact, I insist, as you'll be doing a whole lot of work next spring!

Here goes:

Burning Bush (Euonymus Japonicus):  This is a plant that does really well after a severe pruning. It should be done in early spring - March/April and, if you so wish, it can be cut down to within 1 foot of the ground!

Hibiscus: Again, a plant that does well after a good prune!  Again, it should be done in the early spring.  For really hard pruning, cut back to 2 or 3 leaves per stem on evergreen varieties or to 2 or 3 bud nodes on deciduous varieties (bud nodes are those 'lumpy' bits on the stems).  You will get leaves and hopefully you'll also get flowers next year.  If they don't appear next summer, they should be there to year after that.

Yew (Taxus):  I think this is what you must mean by 'Ewes'.  Ewes being female sheep!  I know that because I can see them outside my window any day of the year and they are NEVER hanging from bushes - Oh yes some of them do, but that's because sheep are stupid!

Anyway - back to work.  This is another one that you can prune back hard in early spring.  It can be cut back by 1/2 to 3/4 and it will send out new growths from each cut.  It could take 2 years to look really good again though, so you have to be patient.

Lilac (Syringa):  This plant can be left to become a tree if it only has one central stem.  If that is the case with yours, I'd suggest that you only take off the lower branches (this is called 'raising the canopy).  I suspect, though, that your plant is multi-stemmed.  That being the case you can cut the stems back to whatever height you feel is most manageable!  Guess when -yes, March/early April!  You may lose the flowers for a couple of years, but they will return!

The only one that has me complete stumped is Winegot - I can't find any reference to that name anywhere, and identifying a plant from a description is notoriously difficult.  Because of that, I'm going to suggest that this one be pruned back this coming fall.  I don't know how big it is at present, so you're going to have to use you own judgement here and cut it back by 1/2 to 2/3 and see what happens next spring - it should leaf-up OK, though you may be missing flowers until the following season!

The best way to prune back long and/or heavy branches and stems it to cut the stem back to  half, or even a third, of its length to start with.  Then cut to the length you ultimately want.  Doing it that way stops the branch/stem tearing at the point where you want it to grow again.  If there is any tearing, clean up the cut, removing any jagged bits, with a clean, very sharp gardening knife.

Well, Skip, that's your spring sorted!!  Enjoy the rest of the summer - drink beer, chill out, gather your strength for the coming labor (<---  see that?!).  Bye now,

Gill