Spring is the best time to prune ninebark.

Summer

LOL...I have 2 native Ninebark shrubs and the same thing is happening. the branches are becoming leggy and heavy and flopping toward the ground. I was wondering if there is any nutrient that you can add to the soil to toughen/strengthen the branches so that they don't grow so leggy and floppy. Or is this just the "habit" of Ninebark? Anyone know?

Barb

My ninebark has turned into a climbing apparatus for my birdhouse gourds.

Claubill,

Ninebarks root easily. I stuck several branches in the ground this spring at the edge of the property, and they are growing. Now this area is moist all the time, so that helps. A dryer summer might not have yielded such good results, so placing the cuttings in pots where you can keep an eye on them for their first year might be more prudent.

I have Diablo ninebark and after about 5 years, it was taking over the world. So I used the classic method for thinning fountain-shaped shrubs, removing the biggest, oldest canes by cutting them as close to the ground as possible. It worked really well! The shrub looks way better now, I probably took out a bit more than a third of the canes. Nothing looks worse than a shrub of this type that has been given a "brush-cut" to keep it in bounds. Plus all it does is force side buds to grow out and then the shrub looks like a mess.