Returned to Forsythia after a difficult first attempt

My first attempt at Forsythia failed — leggy and open growth habit from insufficient light got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again.

The second attempt, with proper attention to pruning at the right time of year for the specific species, has been completely different. It's now thriving in a formal clipped topiary or box hedge and generally low maintenance once established is on full display. early spring flowering on bare branches before leaves appear this year was a genuine reward for starting again. If you failed first time, the plant isn't the problem — the conditions probably were.