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.

What’s killing my Fatsia japonica?

BrotherBear_01BrotherBear_01 Posts: 2
edited May 2020 in Problem solving
Hello all,

I’m a total newbie to gardening. We planted a Fatsia japonica about 12 months ago and it was doing well until about 2 months ago and now it looks awful 😔

I have attached some pictures. 

I thought it may be slugs or snails however I have checked it over a few times and only ever found one or two. 

Any experienced gardeners out that who could help?

many thanks in advance. 



Newbie gardener,
peter

Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Your plant is outside, where it should be, so has to cope with the weather which has been very capricious this year, midsummer one day, midwinter the next.
    It looks to me like a combination of natural aging, maybe getting a bit dry once or twice and new growth brought on by the warmth, then getting frosted. The curly leaf may have had some insect damage for a similar reason as well as something having a munch, that could even have been a bird.
    The plant otherwise looks strong, a good green and shiny leaves, so I would just cut off the worst/most unsightly leaves and keep it well watered, with perhaps a high nitrogen feed to give it a little boost. If it is in full sun it might appreciate a bit of shade if we have a lot more riviera days, but otherwise it should be fine.
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Agree. Our plant looks just the same but as said it has had to try and hold itself together with all sorts of up and down conditions this year. What has really made ours suffer this year has been the relentless NE strong winds, even though it is in a sheltered area.
    It will bounce back
  • BrotherBear_01BrotherBear_01 Posts: 2

    many thanks for your insight, ill keep my fingers crossed that it recovers, looks very sad for itself at the moment :(

    Newbie gardener,
    peter
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Just take all the crappy leaves off. It'll grow new ones. Mine had a tidy up yesterday. 
    They always look a bit rough going into spring after winter anyway, and then the odd weather recently has added to that.
    Mine gets an occasional seaweed feed and very little else. 

    I'm more used to brushing snow off mine through winter, rather than seeing frazzled leaves from sun in spring, and it gets very little sun as it's in a north facing corner  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Mine looks similar (and often looks a bit rough at this time of year). It will be getting pruned in the next week or so.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Sign In or Register to comment.