indigo bush/false indigo

[dixie_belle]

We have been in our Kentucky house for 6 weeks now and I started doing some yard work a couple of days ago. The previous owners had planted roses, indian hawthorne and indogo bushes when they moved in and never trimmed them - ever. The rose bushes are so terribly overgrown I am afraid they have become maneaters!! I am tackling the indian hawthorne now. Hubby says I have skeletons in the yard. Hey, not MY fault they have never been cut back. But I have no experience with the indigo bush, otherwise known as false indigo. I did some research online and it talks about how "leggy" it becomes. NO JOKE. But I couldn't find anything about timing of pruning or how severly I can cut them back. Anyone have any experience with this type of shrub? I really like them. They have a greenish/silver leaf and according to the internet will bloom profusely in the summer. There are flower heads on the shrubs now and they are quite large so I don't want to impair future blooms. I'm hoping someone on here will know something about them.

Thanks

 

[susanne]

There are several shrubby perennials referred to as False Indigo, but I assume you are referring to Baptisia Australis, which is shown here:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/18/

They refer to it as a perennial rather than a shrub, and say that it can be hard pruned back to the ground in winter or early spring.

I always hold off on hard-pruning until I know the plant, but a safe rule of thumb is that you can prune back 1/3 of the plant without damaging or killing it. Take out any dead, weak or damaged branches first, then those that overlap other branches, then prune for shape.

You might also search baptisia amorpha and indigofera (true indigo), although Kentucky is probably a bit far north for the latter.

 

[dixie_belle]

There are several shrubby perennials referred to as False Indigo, but I assume you are referring to Baptisia Australis, which is shown here:http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/18/

They refer to it as a perennial rather than a shrub, and say that it can be hard pruned back to the ground in winter or early spring.

I always hold off on hard-pruning until I know the plant, but a safe rule of thumb is that you can prune back 1/3 of the plant without damaging or killing it. Take out any dead, weak or damaged branches first, then those that overlap other branches, then prune for shape.

You might also search baptisia amorpha and indigofera (true indigo), although Kentucky is probably a bit far north for the latter.

I think I have amorpha fruticosa. Know anything about that one?