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Santolina chamaecyparissus turning brown

NightfuryNightfury Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Hello,
Not sure if anyone can help but my Lavender Cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus) has turned brown all along our border?  Does anyone have any suggestions on why or if there's anything we can do?
Many thanks.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Wet and cold winter weather.  They won't have enjoyed that. Whether they'll return or revive, I don't know as it's not something I grow now. They don't really like the conditions here .
    The first one looks very crowded out by the Euonymous, so it would have struggled a bit anyway. You may have to look at replacing them if they don't return, but if they do, it's worth cutting that Euonymous back to let more light in  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited March 2023
    @Nightfury My first thought would be that it hates the competition from the Euonymous. This Santolina needs every scrap of sun it can get. If your soil was very wet folllowed by the cold this combination might be the end of it. I have just taken a look at mine and it is shooting. I would wait a little longer just incase you get signs of life at the base, if so cut hard back to fresh growth in April.
    They are also short lived like Lavender so if it has been there some time that could also be a problem. Always worth having some cuttings of this so that you have a backup. They strike easily in spring but are slow to grow. My plant is from a cutting so if you know someone who grows it worth asking for some cuttings if the worst happens.
    I grow S rosmarinifolia Primrose Gem.  
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited March 2023
    AS someone who doesn't like to see bare soil, I wouldn't have thought that the Euonymus would have provided that much competition for sun.  More likely to have offerd some protection from frost. (This year possibly not enough.)

    The RHS www says:  Hardiness: frost hardy (will need protection in cold winters)
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I agree, they hate both shade and wet cold. I used to have one - the dry conditions here suit it - but it died after next door replaced the low fence with a higher one that put it in the shade for longer.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Santolina is from the Med it needs all the sun it can get and no competition for light from other plants,
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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