Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Wind damaged Mahonia.

Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
in Problem solving
hi, could I just cut off the brown half of the leaves on my Mahonia Japonic, the beast from the east really made a mess of it. Will they grow back, or should I cut the whole plant down and hopefully see it regrow?
«1

Posts

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    edited May 2018
    It all depends on the size of your plant and how damaged it is. I think, just prune away the damaged areas now. You can also use the time to also reshape and reduce its size too. I don't recommend you prune down and watch it regrow, some don't do so well and take a fair bit of time to recover and grow back.
  • Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
    Thank you for your reply Borderline. The plant is 7ft high with just 2 stems. It has sprouted new shoots at the top, that’s all it does every year, but it just looks sorry for itself with all the brown bits.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    I'm not surprised you feel it needs chopping back. It definitely sounds like the shrubs are not coping well with the wind. In that case, just cut it down to where you hopefully can see some bud or swollen areas. They should recover, but may take a bit of time. These shrubs may need yearly pruning to stop branches becoming so bare further down. You can take some branches down every year once the plant recovers, that will keep the plant more bushy.
  • Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
    Thank you so much for our advice, I think it needs cutting back to see if it will bush more. Once again, thank you for your help.😄
  • Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
    Here are better (I hope) photos for you to see the plants I am trying to identify. Plus the damaged Mahonia, it’s the Charity type not Japonica.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Hi Redrag747, thanks for re-posting more close-ups on previous IDs. The shrub with the variegated leaves now look like Elaeagnus Ebbingei 'Gilt Edge', the other one still looks like a Hebe Parviflora, possibly Lavender Lace, but not totally sure on that one...Hopefully someone that knows more on them can give a more in depth input. 

    Your Mahonia doesn't look that bad, I have seen a lot worse.  You can lightly prune it as mentioned before, but if you want to rejuvenate it, I do recommend you hard prune it. They will come back with more branches and should be more bushy.
  • Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
    Oh great, thank you so much, you’ve been really helpful. Think I will cut the Mahonia back a bit and see how it goes.🙂
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154
    My Mahonia was severely mauled by the 'beast' , and looked like it had been soaked in petrol and burned !
    Four weeks ago I cut it to about one-foot from the ground and it is now re-generating very rapidly .
    As Borderline says, there are a lot worse specimens around in the aftermath !
  • Redrag747Redrag747 Posts: 44
    Oh, thank you for the encouragement to cut it back. I can do it with more confidence now.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    My mahonia looks like that after winter every year. I take badly damaged leaves off. It always recovers no problem, so don't worry about it. They're tough as old boots  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.