Quote:
Originally Posted by lannerman
Hi HelloMabel, I know the feeling ?? Also live in Cornwall and have suffered like everyone else. I think the fuchsia will still come back from the base and I would be inclined now to cut it hard down now.
|
I agree about the fuchsia, but as it acts as a support for a rampant chocolate vine I'm inclined to leave it unpruned.
Quote:
|
I think the willow leaved hebe may be dead but if its going to shoot (wnich I doubt) they will come from the base so again cut it back hard now.
|
Right, I'll do that.
Quote:
|
The hydrangea im suprised about, all mine are fine ?? and I suspect the reason you've had no flowers is that you have been pruning it in the winter ?? thus cutting off the flowers for the comming year ? What I do is to remove one fifth of the bush to 12" so that every 5 years the whole bush has been renewed (but the 4/5ths nor pruned, flower that summer) Yes, I think that to prune it and feed it is your only option but I think theres something else going on here ?? Does it get very dry in Summer under that cherry tree ?
|
No, I definitely haven't been pruning the hydrangea in the winter. I left it in the hopes that it would recover but it hasn't. I suspect the problem is it's in too-intense competition for water and nutrients from the cherry tree and the other shrubs around it. I'm tempted to move it - the question is where (full sun or dappled shade?) and when (now or ...?).
Quote:
|
My honey bush (Euphorbia mellifera) also suffered badly this winter and I see mine is comming from the base again ? I think I would leave it a little longer and see what happens ! This last winter has killed things that survived down here the year before and I think it was the timing of the extreme cold that did the dammage, we went from 13o C to -12oC very quickly, and the plants were all still very soft, had that weather arrived after Christmas like 2010, I'm sure the dammage wouldnt have been as bad.
|
I dug around the roots to see if there were any shoots or greenery but there weren't (in previous years there have been shoots by now). So I dug it up and replaced it with another one and some fresh compost. As you say, it was probably the fast frost and I hadn't wrapped it for protection.
Quote:
Lets hope these winters dont deter people from replacing the plants that gve our county its unique and wonderful flora that make it so special.
Best wishes, Lannerman
|
Thanks for all your suggestions - and I completely agree about our county.
Thanks again!