First thing I'd do is get rid of anything that's growing and touching the window. Then I'd figure out how much you want height wise to cover the window and shape it from there.
Hope that helps some!
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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I am pretty sure this is a chaste tree. You can find pruning advice here: https://www.thespruce.com/chaste-tree-growing-profile-3269206#toc-pruning
In short, cut spent flowers now if you want more whenever the go brown. In winter, cut as much off as you want, even back to the ground. If it causing problems (like hitting the window) now you can cut those parts immediately, but I would wait until winter to do a hard cut.
That's very useful, thank you!
You can use pruning shears or trimming shears or electric hedge trimmers. Always wear goggles, a mask or bandana over your mouth is also recommended.
Beyond all the leaves is a section of barren stems, if you go that deep then you've gone too far. You want it to be wide in equal directions from its base. Hedges can be trimmed any time of year if they get enough water, even if they become stressed they can usually bounce back all on their own after a period of dormancy.
The bottom covers the bushes around it. Should I let it, or clear out the bottom forcing the tree to only grow upwards not downwards?
You clearly don't need help getting that plant to grow upwards lol, but if you want to thin the overcrowding for aesthetic purposes, snip a few of the offending branches at their base with loppers to make room for the bushes, starting small and snipping a few more every time you trim until you're happy :).
While it could certainly use a trim-up and some cleared avenues for maintenance, it's a lovely garden bed and you don't need to overthink it.
@nieceandtows the big bush in back is a chaste tree. You can hack on it however you like and it will grow back. I cut ours back to a stump last winter and it was 8 foot high again by mid summer.
That means you have complete freedom. You could trim off some lower branches to expose the stems and let more light to the plants around it. You could cloud prune it to artful shapes. You could tip back every branch by 30% to encourage it to be more compact. Wait for winter before doing anything major.
That makes it easier, thank you!
It's a butterflybush. Just cut it back to where you want it to be. They are extremely hard to kill.
That's what I thought on first look too, but it is a little wrong. The leaves are in sets of 5 and the flower shape is a little off too. Is this just a variety that I don't know?
Edit: I think it is a chaste tree. The genus is Vitex, no clue on species or variety.
Start from the back, round out the shape, but make sure to not cut more than 1/3 of the plant within 3 months of each trimming.
This is the good, standard advice that will do no harm.
Also, some plants have specific pruning strategies, so if you want to do the for-sure right thing, the first step is identifying your plant
I'd use some heavy duty loppers.