Can You Force Forsythia

Forcing is the process of causing a plant to flower before its natural season. Since your forsythia is planted outdoors, you have to take cuttings from the shrub to bring indoors, but the process is easy and fun. It’s a great way to get a taste of spring while you wait for the long winter to end for good.

How long does it take to force forsythia branches?

It will take anywhere from one to three weeks for the wee buds to bloom. Once brought inside, forsythia branches will bloom in one to three weeks.

Can forsythia be cut back hard?

If you are wondering when to hard prune forsythias, the best answer is when the shrub gets really rangy-looking, is overgrowing its space or has dramatically reduced flowering due to old age. Hard pruning forsythias is best done in late fall. It is actually an easy technique.