Last fall I bought a
Mahonia x media 'Underway' from Cistus at their "tough love" sale. It was gorgeous. I tucked it, still in its nursery pot, into one of the beds so we could mow the lawn. Unfortunately I tucked it too far under the eaves of the house and it got totally dried out. And then the poor thing lost most of its branches.
Now it's the Charlie Brown Mahonia. Uggggggghhhh. This is why we can't have nice things.
Eventually it will put out new growth from the top and fill out that way but I don't think it will produce any new shoots below. Am I wrong? Should I cut my losses and buy a new one?
Hah, this reminds me of my drunken Mahonia, at least yours isn't leaning crazily against the fence. Mine is similarly leafed out, with one branch far below and then growth at the top, with a long bare stem between. I've been advised to cut it back to the lower growth and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought of Alison's drunken Mahonia. Maybe I should have it?
ReplyDeleteCould you rehab it?
ReplyDeleteI think we need an island for our misfit mahonias!
ReplyDeleteI can't say I've ever rehabilitated a Mahonia but, if it were mine, I'd try cutting it back down to the lower stem and cross my fingers.
ReplyDeleteI think that sounds right right: cut it back lower down. Just tell yourself it was the brutal cold that damaged it. Oh, and I have a misfit Mahonia fortunei 'Dan Hinkley' to add to the island.
ReplyDeleteWorth keeping for awhile Heather, who knows how it will respond to the coming growing season :)
ReplyDeleteIt's so cute! Along with cutting it back, I'd scratch in some organic fertilizer. Mahonia's are tough.
ReplyDeleteThanks, master gardener! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's looking better than most of my "tough love" adoptees. Was I not tough enough? Were you only semi-tough?
ReplyDeleteThis one wasn't on the clearance table--it was inside but 30% off. You're tough enough, baby!
ReplyDeleteBest to prune it back to just above that nice growth at the bottom, so the plant can focus it's energy on lush new growth instead of wasting it on alot of damaged upper growth that (may not) ever really bounce back in that damaged middle section
ReplyDelete