Can I Prune Loropetalum Bushes Severely?

Q: May we prune our two huge loropetalum bushes severely? They are enormous and I’m ready to have them be short and low to ground. 

A: Different loropetalum varieties vary widely in size, from eighteen inches tall to fifteen feet high. If you mistakenly plant one without knowing how big it gets, you might soon regret your choice. In my experience, loropetalum is very tolerant of pruning. Even so, it will put out new leaves much quicker if you wait until spring to do major cutting. There’s no reason you can’t do some thinning or topping now but my preference would be for you to wait until late February if you need to prune severely at one time.