There is a narrow strip of earth in the yard of the block of flats where we live which no one bothers with. I sometimes lop off bits of the trees or bushes which seem to have got out of hand. My husband brings a gardener with a chain saw to cut off the processional caterpillar nests and prune the Robinia at the end of the winter.
Twenty years ago, when most of these plants were chosen and planted by a committee each member of which seems to have chosen a couple of plants each. One wanted a Norfolk Pine , another Oleander, someone else wanted a Bay Tree. Some children came home from school one day with tiny trees which needed planting, hence the two Pine Trees. I have since had a Judas Tree planted and my downstairs neighbour planted an apricot stone which is now a good sized tree. The Acacia Farnesiana which I so wanted didn't survive a football match.
As you can imagine it is all over crowded now and a very suitable home for insects, cats and birds. My problem is the Australian Bottle Brush Tree.
It is quite tall and in the summer produced some flowers on the top branches but all the lower branches are dried up without leaves or flowers. Would it produce new branches if I pruned it hard or should I just leave well alone ?