There are one or two spots in the garden where it’s a struggle to get anything to grow. One such place is behind a brick retaining wall where I suspect the builders back filled with a load of rubble. Somewhere down the line we planted a Euphorbia mellifera there and it has loved it, growing well but not too well, so it remains compact, at least for a few years.
However, it is beside a path and it does grow over it. Not the most pleasant plant to push past, just snap a leaf and it releases milky, sticky and for some, irritant sap. I cut off the worst branches as and when, then about every three years I cut it back hard.
Which I just did. Everything except a few small shoots it produced this year. I would expect a flush of growth from the bottom and will probably be removing the longer shoots before the winter. Next year it will be a neat green dome again, but shorter. Got my view back too.
wow you are brave! I have one of these too and I love it for structure and scent but it does get too big. I reduce it a bit but I see you have really gone for it and it seems to like it so I will reduce mine much more. I know they are indestructible and mine too is in a place where nothing else much would grow as it’s so hot and dry.
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I probably lose out on flower compared to your lighter pruning. I don’t worry too much about killing things, it’s an opportunity to grow something I haven’t had room for until that point. What I hate are the ones that limp along, not performing but refusing to give in completely.
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