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.

Sick Bergenia??

bellabobbinbellabobbin Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi All! I'm an absolute beginner to gardening. We moved house last week and the outside areas that we have inherited have been kept immaculately. Lot's of plants, trees and shrubs that we need to identify and learn to take care of. Hoping that what I lack in knowledge will sort of be helped by my enthusiasm and desire to get it right! 

I'm looking for some advice specifically (to start with!) on this plant. I 'think' it's a Bergenia and it looks a bit sickly in my very inexperienced eyes :( 

Any thoughts on whether or not there is an issue and what it might be? Thanks in advance! 

Posts

  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    edited January 2021
    Hi, I’m not an expert, but we’ve got a bergenia which we put in quite a few years ago. Yes that looks like a bergenia, and it also looks like ours does in the winter. They are evergreen, but not tough like an ivy for example, so they get a bit battered by the winter weather. It should come good again in the spring. I think I would leave it be for now, and trim those nasty looking bits off in the spring if you like. Ours always gets ravaged by slugs as well, and you haven’t had that, so you’re doing well. 
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732
    Mine was well established when we moved here 34 years ago. I just go round snipping off dead leaves anytime I see them.
    Also, I once dug out a bramble from the middle. First I worried about damaging the Bergenia but then I said to myself "get a grip, it's not brain surgery" and forged ahead.
    Turned out fine.
    Also I have been known to wield the secateurs enthusiastically round the  edges when it gets a bit wide.
    Southampton 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Or dig them out if you don't like the look of them (which is normal in winter as others have mentioned) and give yourself an exciting new planting opportunity?  I detest them myself and think they look like manky cabbages! :D
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Sign In or Register to comment.