Weigela pruning

[peanut]

Hello all,

I have a very large and very old pink flowered Weigela, variety unknown. I prune it right down, immediately after flowering. The following Spring it is just leaves, but if I don't prune it that 2nd year I will get flowers in year 3 and so it goes on.
I always prune my other various Spring flowering shrubs after flowering and they're all well behaved and flower the following Spring. Perhaps this Weigela is just too big and too old to abide by the rules anymore.
Any thoughts welcome.

[burnie]

It is best to prune weigela shrubs in the late spring after they have finished blooming. Trimming weigela bushes right after they bloom will keep you from inadvertently pruning off next year’s flowers. This is because weigela bloom on wood that it is a year old.
Taken from 'tinternet

[mothhawk]

When you say you prune it right down, do you mean almost to the ground, leaving just a stumpy bit? I always treated mine ( when I had my old garden) more like a blackcurrant. I cut out any wood three years old right at the base, then, as they say on GW, removed any dead, damaged, crossing, or really wispy stems. After that, the stems that flowered that year I reduced by half, just to keep the height down. So I was left with new stems growing this year from the base, and flowered stems reduced by half their length, some of which would be from last years new growth, (one year old wood) and some from stems that grew out from the stems reduced by half the year before.

That's a bit convoluted, hope it makes sense.

[peanut]

Thanks both for your replies. Yes I prune it right down to it's stump after it has finished flowering, its a huge stump! I always tell myself I will dig it out as it is in a really daft place (not planted by me), but then I feel bad and let it stay another year. Perhaps I shall not prune so drastically and see what happens.