Pruning

Question

I read that I could hard prune my hypericum which were growing very large and I did that in March. Now they aren’t showing any signs of green growth (May) and I’m afraid I killed them…

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Answer 1

Thanks- it was early March so I do believe it was dormant. Should it be budding by now? There are slight bumps on the stems but no buds...

Answer 2

Was the plant dormant when you "stooled" it? If it had already leafed out when you pruned it, then yes, you may have killed it. Go ahead and cut the fattest branches down as far as you can to get more light into the center. Cut back one of the smaller branches. If the inside or pith is tan, it is gone. If there is a thin green ring just under the bark, it's alive.