I could never smell it @Desi_in_London, but you often need to crush the foliage to get it, although it tends to be stronger in hot conditions. I probably never had enough of that either when I had it briefly. I hated the grey foliage in my climate anyway, so I was glad to be rid of it
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You could try tying it together with twine very carefully around the middle, pulling the splayed branches back upright and giving it a good water afterwards.
Santolina grows very well in sunny countries and it's easy to take cuttings from. The bees love the yellow pom-pom flowers but the flowers smell rather unpleasant when they are fading. I had it in France, it was hardy in cold winters, never needed watering and responded well to pruning. But they need changing every 10 years or so, like lavender, they start to look tatty.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Mine gets a hard chop back (almost to a stump sometimes) as soon as it starts to flop open. I'm not keen on the flowers so some years I don't even wait until they've faded. It's pretty old for a santolina (it was here when we moved in, 1988) so I won't be heartbroken if I kill it, but so far it's always grown back fresh bushy foliage.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Apparently watering them makes them go floppy. I did water them a few times when I first moved here as it had been so dry but perhaps I shouldn't have.
I don't know about the roots (underground) but mine has a thick gnarly "trunk". Not sure how long it took to get like that, and at some point it's keeled over and started growing horizontally at the bottom - maybe the aftermath of flopping and being left that way when it was young?
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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I hated the grey foliage in my climate anyway, so I was glad to be rid of it
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Apparently watering them makes them go floppy. I did water them a few times when I first moved here as it had been so dry but perhaps I shouldn't have.
Do they have big roots or are they quite spindly?