Ugly bush

[1iora]

I'm about to take some shears to this bush, so I want to know if it's something I'll actually want around before I decide whether to cut it back, or to cut it way back. This picture is from October in Zone 7A. Currently it has just a few leaves left on it from the fall, some have turned mostly red but the remaining leaves are green. It's budding and looks normal for budding. The branches seem kind of viny to me - they have striations like celery but further apart. And brownish greyish.

Thanks for your help! I'm off to buy some tools...

So do I want it?

ps. look how much better my iphone is at taking pictures than my actual camera.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'll go out on a limb and throw an identification out there - it looks to me like burning bush (Euonymus alatus ) . Good description of the bark btw, it's what clinched it for me. Am I correct in remembering that your yard is on the north side of your house?

If so that's not an ideal location for a blueberry, which does best in full sun, although they will tolerate a bit of shade.

The burning bush ( if that's what it is ) gets to be a large shrub, which is basically what you already know. Their main attraction in the landscape is their brilliant red foliage in the fall, which really needs full sun to develop well. If it were my yard I would eliminate it and plant something I liked a whole lot more in that spot. Possibly a few kiwis on a trellis. To get fruit you need one male for several females, but many people plant them for the ornamental quality of their variegated leaves.

For a fer-shur ID you could take a branch to a nursery and they could tell you what it is.

 

[lesa]

I don't think I would be in a big hurry to get rid of that... At the moment it looks like the only thing you have growing. I would wait until I had a firm plan in mind, before making a bare space. If you trim it back too far, it going to look a little ugly for a while. Keep us posted on what you decide! Happy Gardening!

 

[1iora]

Thanks guys! It definitely looks like google images' burning bushes. Less red though. I will leave it until I get something to replace it with, but it's really an eye sore and takes up a lot of space, so I'll just make into a smaller eye sore.

Kiwis??? I can grow KIWIS? in DC? Really?
Also, you're right about that being the north side. Would kiwis grow better than blueberries there? I mainly need something to block the window behind the bush. When I replant it'll be a more adult plant so it'll already block the window, but I don't want it to die off or be sparse. So basically, it's to block the window, and anything edible that comes off it is a plus. I was thinking I should just put the grill there, but my boyfriend is opposed (he thinks it won't block enough of the window, and if he's right I can't fill in around it with plants because they'll die of the heat)

 

[thistlebloom]

Thanks guys! It definitely looks like google images' burning bushes. Less red though. I will leave it until I get something to replace it with, but it's really an eye sore and takes up a lot of space, so I'll just make into a smaller eye sore.

Kiwis??? I can grow KIWIS? in DC? Really?
Also, you're right about that being the north side. Would kiwis grow better than blueberries there? I mainly need something to block the window behind the bush. When I replant it'll be a more adult plant so it'll already block the window, but I don't want it to die off or be sparse. So basically, it's to block the window, and anything edible that comes off it is a plus. I was thinking I should just put the grill there, but my boyfriend is opposed (he thinks it won't block enough of the window, and if he's right I can't fill in around it with plants because they'll die of the heat)

Yes, kiwis will grow in your zone 1iora! And they can produce in a shady site, so against the house there would be a much better spot for kiwi than blueberry.

I take it that there is a window behind the shrub that you want to screen? Kiwi aren't evergreen so something physical for screening year round would be necessary, like, for instance a section of bamboo fencing or a piece of lattice.
But kiwis will grow great on a simple wire trellis, where you guide the vine along it's length, making it good for hiding the utilities under the stairs. You could also train them along your fence. They will grow in full sun also, so it would be fine to let them go the length of the fence to a sunnier position.

If you're set on something dense enough to screen the window year round, ( and didn't want to put up a light visual barrier ) I would still choose a vine, because they take up just a little ground space. I'm sure there are a lot to choose from for shade, but right off the top of my head Clematis armandii is evergreen and fragrant.

 

[catjac1975]

I don't think it's kiwi. If it is get rid of it now before it's too late. Have you had a blooming season with it? If not wait and see what it looks like. Hate to tear out something that could be a nice plant.