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  Paul Doyle January 8, 2018 at 5:53pm

  Hi Darren,

   If it were me id begin by removing the longest of the leaves fully back to the centre, that areclosest lying on the ground.Then thin out about a third of the other leaves. thats all Id do. Dont cut Phormiums in half or anything as it tends to burn at the cut and die off, looks crap too. You can do it now but dont do too much in one go.But I imagine the client expects you to be severe??,keep going back to them and get their input so as you dont butcher it in their eyes. thats my tuppence worth  anyway.
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  dan January 8, 2018 at 6:38pm

  agree with above -- remove outer leaves as close to ground/ base without damaging inner leaves - you can cut them into a shape and reduce but will brown and scar. Ideally its a late spring job and you can remove all the leaves apart from the centre growth points - depending on how old they are and how many clusters of growth points have developed 

  however this is one of those 'annoying' jobs in which whatever you do is a waste of time - most phormiums get pretty big within a reasonable time frame and whoever planted them didnt take into account the limited space available in that situ so close to cars and driveway. 

  How about removal and replant something more suitable ?
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    Paul Doyle > dan January 8, 2018 at 6:58pm

    Your right Dan,

    Get rid of em as they will only drive everybody soft in the end. Id imagine Euphorbia wulfini would grow well enough there?? evergreen beautiful and tough.
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      dan > Paul Doyle January 8, 2018 at 7:10pm

      Agreed - i hate 'pointless' jobs over and over again - 

      And they have a fancy drive ;) not sure the lady of the house will like 'brushing up' against those leaves in the summer in a short skirt. 

      Lots of options for replant - depending on aspect - its obviously going to be massively dry-- loads of Euphorbia types -- lavender options -- even taller tropicals with leaves out stretched above head height . 

      Id def push a replant and make some extra money on something that will suit it better. 
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  Green Girl Garden Care January 8, 2018 at 7:16pm

  So many of these in my gardens I have become an expert in keeping them under control! Some are the size of an old mini! Start by removing any old brown leaves as low as poss, then remove as low as possible any leaves that are touching the ground or sticking out at odd angles. Never cut every leaf and never partway always to the base. Do some then stand back and look and keep going till the are a good shape. But yes these look young and will eventually impede cutting the hedge and cause dead patches on the hedge if left to grow to full size.
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  Andrew Betteridge January 8, 2018 at 10:13pm

  Not very inspiring are they?
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  Darren Walters January 9, 2018 at 4:08pm

  Cheers folks, I guess it's a case of a bit at a time. 

  The customer spent a significant amount of money on the garden, prior to us getting involved.  I'm not sure it was thought out as well as it could have been.  Getting the conifer debris off the slate is also quite difficult.
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  Ben Gilg January 9, 2018 at 8:13pm

  Hated these with a passion in NZ, where alas there are a lot of them!!. Cut back right at ground level was my MO.
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    Elizabeth Reeves > Ben Gilg January 13, 2018 at 2:09pm

    I have come to detest phormiums as well! They now grate on my eye and are a nightmare to remove when they inevitably get too big. The coloured ones revert so easily, too.
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  Darren Walters January 12, 2018 at 6:36am

  Thanks for the replies folks.  I took on board the comments.  Replanting isn't an option at the moment so pruning it had to be.  We started to cut individual leaves down with secateurs but the cuts weren't great, so I tried shears and they were worse.  At one point, I felt like we were making a right hash of it and was getting a little concerned. See below...

  So, I had the brainwave to scrape away all of the slate around the base and cut a whole section from the front with a stanley knife as low to the ground as possible.  Although still an untidy plant by nature, at least they are away from the drive, look tidier and still look natural.