please is ther a way to get my forsythia to bloom or flower?

Question

its about 7-8 yrs. old and has only ever had a few flowers in spring?

Answer 1

A 7-8 year old forsythia should be blooming fully every year. Mine are just starting to open their buds this year. Cutting it back to about 2 foot tall will make it branch out next year, but it would take a couple more years to get into full bloom. Only 2 other things I can think of: 1) Is it getting good light? 2) Are there any chemicals in the soil? It should be blooming for you.

Answer 2

Forsythias bloom best in full sun, but may be planted in light shade. If you have too heavy of a shade, it may not flower very much. This may be your problem. If this is the case, you may want to move it to a location where it will get more sun, or open up the area around it so it will get more sunlight. Forsythias benefit from a light annual feeding of an all-purpose (10-10-10) garden type fertilizer, applied in mid-February through mid-May.

Remember, Forsythia flowers form on the previous season's growth, not on new growth, so pruning should be done immediately after the flowers have faded. If you prune it back too heavy, you remove the flowering buds. Once your Forsythia finishes blooming, take a close look to see what pruning needs to be done. Each year, you should prune back about one fourth of the oldest stems to within 4 inches of the ground. This will keep the bush neat and prevent a scraggly, wild looking shrub.

If your Forsythia is drastically overgrown, it may stop blooming altogether. If this is the case, you can cut the entire plant to the ground. It may take a few years before you'll see any blooms, but it will come back, and be beautiful again.

So to review, the problem could be:
1. not enough sun
2. too heavy pruning removes flower buds
3. not enough pruning keeps the flower buds from forming

Since it appears that it has never really bloomed much, I'm leaning towards not enough sunlight.

Answer 3

When a forsythia doesn't bloom, the culprit is almost always the fact that it is receiving a high-nitrogen fertilizer from applications to nearby grass. Like many flowering shrubs, a forsythia doesn't flower unless it's a little bit stressed; if it's getting lots of nitrogen from lawn fertilizer that's been applied nearby, it's "happy" and doesn't have a stressor that will cause it to attempt to reproduce (which, after all, is what flowers are for as far as the plant is concerned). You might try fertilizing around the forsythia with a fertilizer containing a high middle number (potassium); keep lawn fertilizers and similar high-nitrogen fertilizers away from the roots of the plant, which generally extend just about as far underground as the branches extend above ground.

Answer 4

Be brave when you prune, its called rejuvenating it. Take out the large stem at the base of the shrub with a green wood saw and all the stems which cross or rub with pruners. The small stems should be cut on a slant just above a bud to drain away any rain from the bud.The new growth generated will give flowers next year. Feed and water it regularly with a good general purpose fertiliser if you drastically prune it other wise just water it in the hot weather. Don't worry it will take more than a bad prune to kill it. Mine is flowering now it is beautiful. By the way yours is a spring chicken compared to mine which is 30yrs old and has many offspring in the area.

Answer 5

Trim the shrub after flowering and feed it with potash to encourage flowers

Answer 6

I would try cutting it Way back and see if that works.