How-to Guide
How to Rejuvenate an Overgrown Shrub
The short answer
For overgrown multi-stemmed shrubs (lilac, forsythia, dogwood, spirea, viburnum, ninebark and similar), you have two approaches, both done in late winter or early spring. Rejuvenation pruning cuts the entire shrub to within a few inches of the ground in one go — drastic, but these cane-type shrubs resprout vigorously from the base. Renewal (gradual) pruning is gentler: each year you remove about one-third of the oldest, thickest stems at ground level, so over three years the whole shrub is replaced with young growth and it never looks bare.
Both work only on shrubs that sprout from the base. Don't do this to most needled evergreens (like junipers or pines), which won't regrow from old bare wood.
Pick your method
- 1Hard rejuvenation (all at once) — In late winter or early spring, cut every stem down to 4-10 inches from the ground. The shrub resprouts and reshapes over the growing season. Fast, but the shrub looks like stubble for a while.
- 2Gradual renewal (over 3 years) — Each late winter, remove about one-third of the oldest, fattest stems at ground level and shorten remaining stems to encourage branching. In three years the shrub is fully renewed without ever being bare.
Which shrubs can take it
- Good candidates: lilac, forsythia, mockorange, weigela, spirea, dogwood, viburnum, ninebark, beautybush and other multi-stemmed, cane-type shrubs.
- Poor candidates: most needled evergreens (juniper, arborvitae, pine, spruce) — they usually don't resprout from old, leafless wood, so hard-cutting can kill them.
- After renewal, thin new sprouts and feed/water so the shrub rebuilds strongly.
✔ Do the cutting in late winter or early spring, before growth starts, so the shrub spends the whole season regrowing. On spring-flowering shrubs this sacrifices one year of bloom — a fair trade for a renewed plant.
Sources
Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach — Pruning Large, Overgrown Shrubs — Overgrown multi-stem shrubs can be rejuvenated in late winter/early spring either by cutting all stems to within a few inches of the ground, or by renewal pruning that removes about one-third of the oldest stems at ground level each year over three years.