Looks a stunning garden.
May I suggest you wait a while before changing anything.
There may be all sorts of plants/bulbs which will appear when the weather warms up.
I agree... for the most part...Although I figure if I have properly identified certain plants, and they are in need of a clean up, then don't feel I should hesitate. Unfortunately, the last owners, who did not actually create this garden as they were here for only a brief period (3.5 years), did not keep up with it. The pic looks a lot better than what you see now. Several shrubs are way out of control. Many branches are old and dead. I figure that removing at least those branches and pruning plants I am familiar with (like the dogwood I cleaned up) won't do much harm.
I am positive now that these are smokebush shrubs. I looked them up and the info I have found says that a good pruning now (late winter/early spring) is highly advisable in order to control the plant. I might take a good amount off so that it doesn't get out of control. I won't be able to do this in July.
Thank you all for the input! I have a few more pics to post to continue with the guessing game!
