cutting back shrubs

Question

When is the best time to cut all of my very large shrubs back all the way low to the ground? They are much too large. I have been living here 19 years and they have never been cut all the way back or down low.

Answer 1

It really depends on the type of shrub, but a pruning in spring for non flowering shrubs is normally ok. Most shrubs will not tolerate being cut back by more than 1/3. There are only very specific shrubs that respond to rejuvenation pruning like you are talking about. If you let me know what kind of shrubs they are, I can tell you if you can do rejuvenation pruning on them.