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Poor hebe!

linzijayne74linzijayne74 Posts: 198
in Problem solving
Hi there.  I suspect I'm not the last to ask this and apologies for any repetition, but please see attached a photo of my hebe.  I've had it for three years and this is the first time it's ever looked like this....I'm thinking it's the frosty April we had.  My question is: is there anything I can do to bring it back to how it should be please?  Do I prune back all the brown leaves/stems, or just leave it to sort itself out?  I did a 'scratch test' on one of the brown stems and I'm sure I saw green life there!  Thank you.   
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Posts

  • Robert WestRobert West Posts: 241
    Lots look like that right now. It will almost certainly recover. Takes a while for them to start, but once they get going they tend to be fine. If you want to reduce its size now is your chance. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wouldn't hold my breath. Many hebes aren't fully hardy anyway, and if cut back hard, they don't always regenerate.
    In general, the bigger the foliage size, the more vulnerable they are. The variegated ones are also very susceptible to long cold spells.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • IlikeplantsIlikeplants Posts: 894
    I’ve got hebe damage like that too. Wondering if I cut down now it’s like a Chelsea chop and will still flower this year?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Very doubtful - it's not a perennial, it's a shrub  :)
    Cutting back hard is often the death knell for them.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Sorry, but recovery is very unlikely and even if it occurs it will take several years. If it were mine, I would cut my losses.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • IlikeplantsIlikeplants Posts: 894
    So no pruning then, just wait and see. 
  • linzijayne74linzijayne74 Posts: 198
    Hi @Robert West ; @Fairygirl , @Ilikeplants , @punkdoc ;thank you for your replies.  My hebe has certainly got bigger than I ever anticipated!  I'll see what happens if I leave it for a while but from your replies, I feel it's the beginning of the end.  What a shame.  Thank you all again for taking the time to reply.  :)
  • IlikeplantsIlikeplants Posts: 894
    Take cuttings from it and start again. All my hebes came from cuttings.
  • rwest78rwrwest78rw Posts: 24
    I used to have about ten Hebes of different sizes and types. After they'd been in about 4-5 years I got a bit bored of them, so dug six of them up.

    They were well established with large root balls. I wanted to give them away so having chopped off so many of the roots to allow me to pot them up I also cut them all back to about 1foot across. Some had been 3ft before I dug them up.

    Gave them all to my brother in law. One (a small leaved one that didn't even need chopping back that much) never recovered. The other five sprung back within a year. A couple are back to 3ft across two years later. 

    Hebes are FAR tougher than people think. They get damaged but cold winds but they do recover. In my experience anyway.
  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732
    I have a small leaved hebe which went brown And I cut it back. It happened again the next year and I did it again. It's still hanging in there.
    Southampton 
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