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Salvia Hot Lips

MillarificMillarific Posts: 28
in Problem solving
My Salvia Hot Lips is looking rather sorry for itself after the heavy frosts in Southern England. It is about5-6 years old on the edge of a border in full sun. last year it was magnificent and extended over the lawn it is about 3ft high and 4ft wide. There is some growth at the back but the front looks really brown and dead. Should I prune the whole plant back now to about 4-6 inches or wait for some buds in the front or just prune back the dead bits to ground level.
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  • bullfinchbullfinch Posts: 692
    I am interested in the advice you are given @Millarific as mine is looking similar.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Best to wait for the risk of frost to pass before hard pruning, the last thing you want is to encourage a flush of shoots with no existing foliage to protect them. I think it's probably OK to have a light tidy-up though.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I'd personally leave it until the spring as the extra material can help protect it if it gets really cold again. They do well being hard pruned and it just knocks back the flowering time a little.
  • bullfinchbullfinch Posts: 692
    Thank you @Loxley and @thevictorian, that's helpful, and kind of you to reply so quickly  :)
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I would definitely advise leaving a hard prune until at least the end of March, but depending on the weather it might be better to leave it as late as mid April. Mine was bent practically double by the snow but has perked up again. Even though it is sheltered by the house wall, l have left it alone for now.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I would also leave it until April. Then you'll be able to see what is dead and where the new growth is coming from, and cut it back to the new growth, or further if you prefer.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited February 2023
    Agree you will have to look at a messy plant and resist pruning it until spring to give it the best chance. You should see fresh new growth at the base if it is happy. If there is no new growth I would still give it a chance to reshoot. By the end of April if still nothing sounds brutal but a gentle tug will tell you what is happening.If it lifts straight out and roots are brown it is dead. If you just have a few small green stems they will make easy to do cuttings you should have some flowers from these late summer.
    Gardeners will loose salvias this winter some of the woody ones are hardier than others.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I cut my shrubby salvias back by two thirds in May as long as there are no hard frosts forecast.

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • bullfinchbullfinch Posts: 692
    I have other shrubby salvias, as well as hotlips, and messy is definitely the word that suits them at the moment 🙄
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I think all plants have a messy time of year, narcissus for instance.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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