I've been thinking more about this pruning job in April and I can't bring myself to cut it to the ground, mostly because the stems do provide architectural interest in the garden.
The leaves don't look good though and there's too much of it growing over the fence. I was thinking to make cuts about 4'-6' high on the existing woody stems.
I think these are 'living' stems given that they all have leaves on the end (albeit yellow shabby bunched up leaves).
I was going to leave the realy vertical thinner stem which all the greener leaves at the back are growing from.
These are the cuts I was thinking to make ... does anybody know if this shrub would grow from the tips of those cuts or just from the base if I did?
I took the plunge with this today, I couldn't bring myself to cut it down to the ground as advised earlier.
It turns out some of these stems had nasty black streaks running through them and I found at the base a previous year of pruning from a previous owner must have seen a saw stray into the stem as it was partly cut at the bottom, which I guess let some badness in.
Anyway, I kept one of the old stems cut about half way which had small but leaves but no dead sections at the cut.
I cut the bad ones (two of them) right down to the ground.
I left the newer shoots which have come up in the last year or two. I'm hoping some more growth occurs to compensate but never pruned one of these myself before so not sure what to expect and when!
That looks much better already ; wait and see if and where new growth occurs from and treat accordingly .
They are tough plants and normally respond well to drastic pruning .
Older leaves naturally yellow with age and eventually fall off ; younger leaves showing a yellow colouration normally indicates chlorosis ; this is remedied by treating with Sequestrene or a similar compound .
Hello, I came across this thread because my fatsia japonica is looking extremely sorry for itself. I live in the northern part of central France where the weather is hot and dry in the summer and generally fairly mild in the winter (we have below freezing temperatures for just a few days). I planted the fatsia about 22 or so years ago and it was doing absolutely fine. But then last October my husband decided to chop down all the bamboo (is this grounds for divorce?) that had always been to the right of it and now it's gone all straggly and horrible. So, I don't know whether this is a) because it has reached the end of its natural life cycle b) because of the extreme hot weather we've been having and there is a ban on watering or c) because it's lost its bamboo friends? My question to the community is: can I prune it right down, now, in August or will that definitely be the end of it? The wall is also falling down, but that's another problem! I was standing right where the bamboo used to be to take the second photo and you can see that where I've pruned it in the past, no new growth has appeared.
I can see signs of growth and little buds low down so I think all is not lost. I'd reduce the height by about half to encourage the plant to bush up.
Personally I'd wait until at least autumn before pruning it. It's probably quite stressed by the heat and drought and maybe not used to having so much sun if it was previously in the shade of the bamboo.
Meantime, it does look quite hungry and thirsty. I know there is a red water situation in parts of France just now - but is there any water you can recycle on to the plant? I wouldn't use anything containing too much in the way of detergent or other chemicals, but perhaps you could drain (eg) cooking water into a bucket and (when it's cooled and you've accumulated enough) use that to give the plant a good soak every week. If you can do it often enough you might be able to mix in some feed as well. Mulch well after watering and pull back the mulch before the next watering then re-cover.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I think you need to look at the conditions it's growing in. The bamboo will have sucked a lot of water out of the ground, and probably blocked a lot of light too, so it will have been struggling to thrive for a while. New foliage won't have had a chance to grow properly. Although they like a shady spot [ without being overcrowded ] they still need some light, and plenty of water. Clear away all the ground round it, improve the soil with some decent compost, water it well, and see if it improves. They do well after a good pruning, but let it recover, and then give it until spring, when frosts have passed [if you get them] and do it then if it's growing well. You can give it a liquid feed of seaweed then too, as long as it's looking healthier by then.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I am so happy to find this thread. I love my Fatsia, who has lived happily at the base of my North Wall for over 20 years, since I planted her. She is rarely fed or watered, but seems to thrive, and flowers beautifully every year. But I've recently realised she is getting too big and straggly with too many trunks showing, with tufts on top, albeit with flowers. As it's now February, I am now looking forward to a bit of judicious pruning next month. Thank you all, for the sensible advice, and photos too .
Posts
The leaves don't look good though and there's too much of it growing over the fence. I was thinking to make cuts about 4'-6' high on the existing woody stems.
I think these are 'living' stems given that they all have leaves on the end (albeit yellow shabby bunched up leaves).
I was going to leave the realy vertical thinner stem which all the greener leaves at the back are growing from.
These are the cuts I was thinking to make ... does anybody know if this shrub would grow from the tips of those cuts or just from the base if I did?
It turns out some of these stems had nasty black streaks running through them and I found at the base a previous year of pruning from a previous owner must have seen a saw stray into the stem as it was partly cut at the bottom, which I guess let some badness in.
Anyway, I kept one of the old stems cut about half way which had small but leaves but no dead sections at the cut.
I cut the bad ones (two of them) right down to the ground.
I left the newer shoots which have come up in the last year or two. I'm hoping some more growth occurs to compensate but never pruned one of these myself before so not sure what to expect and when!
I came across this thread because my fatsia japonica is looking extremely sorry for itself. I live in the northern part of central France where the weather is hot and dry in the summer and generally fairly mild in the winter (we have below freezing temperatures for just a few days). I planted the fatsia about 22 or so years ago and it was doing absolutely fine. But then last October my husband decided to chop down all the bamboo (is this grounds for divorce?) that had always been to the right of it and now it's gone all straggly and horrible.
So, I don't know whether this is a) because it has reached the end of its natural life cycle b) because of the extreme hot weather we've been having and there is a ban on watering or c) because it's lost its bamboo friends?
My question to the community is: can I prune it right down, now, in August or will that definitely be the end of it?
The wall is also falling down, but that's another problem! I was standing right where the bamboo used to be to take the second photo and you can see that where I've pruned it in the past, no new growth has appeared.
Personally I'd wait until at least autumn before pruning it. It's probably quite stressed by the heat and drought and maybe not used to having so much sun if it was previously in the shade of the bamboo.
Meantime, it does look quite hungry and thirsty. I know there is a red water situation in parts of France just now - but is there any water you can recycle on to the plant? I wouldn't use anything containing too much in the way of detergent or other chemicals, but perhaps you could drain (eg) cooking water into a bucket and (when it's cooled and you've accumulated enough) use that to give the plant a good soak every week. If you can do it often enough you might be able to mix in some feed as well. Mulch well after watering and pull back the mulch before the next watering then re-cover.
Although they like a shady spot [ without being overcrowded ] they still need some light, and plenty of water.
Clear away all the ground round it, improve the soil with some decent compost, water it well, and see if it improves.
They do well after a good pruning, but let it recover, and then give it until spring, when frosts have passed [if you get them] and do it then if it's growing well. You can give it a liquid feed of seaweed then too, as long as it's looking healthier by then.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...