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.

Griselinia Littoralis Hedge

naomigreignaomigreig Posts: 1
in Problem solving
This Hedge has been planted for about 15 years - and has always looked lush. This year it seams to have a severe die back ! There are some signs of it starting to push out leaf lower down. Should it have a hard prune too rejuvenate and to try and save it !  The pictures of the whole hedge were taken last year and to understand the size !  Thanks Naomi 



Posts

  • Randommoose1Randommoose1 Posts: 99
    That's a lovely hedge! I just have one large Griselina and it always such a cheerful green. I do find the first flush young leaves get frosted and turn black but then it puts out a second flush which is fine. So it does seem to have a good potential to recover from cold. I hope yours recovers when spring comes!
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Leave it alone until the cold weather is over. Then you'll be able to see what's actually dead and what's just lost its leaves and you can decide at that point whether to prune it back to the new growth or leave it. In part it depends whether you are prepared to forgo the screening effect while it grows back from a hard prune.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • VeilchenblauVeilchenblau Posts: 45
    I have had the exact same issue with my Griselinia this year :( It’s normal they have black tips on early spring growth from the frost, but I’ve never seen anything like this year, complete stems have died off and turned black/brown  and mushy. I’m wondering if a disease or the extreme cold weather. 
  • VeilchenblauVeilchenblau Posts: 45
    My lot looking rather sorry and some have died off completely 😞 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Most likely the winter weather. They don't do particularly well where I am - wet then freezing, with cold wet ground isn't ideal, so many areas where they're normally ok will have had that problem this winter. Same as many other plants.
    You'll just have to wait and see when the weather improves. It might come away again. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Randommoose1Randommoose1 Posts: 99
    Well my Griselina (2mx2m size) has now succumbed to the same thing as yours @naomigreig and @Veilchenblau. Most of the leaves have fallen (some turned black but most fell while green), stems have turned black and mushy. It is worse the higher up the plant. There are still some green buds but any  green buds or green leaves on black stems die off after a while. So I am waiting to see how far the black spreads and whether it kills the whole plant. The majority of the twigs are black and bendy now. I really really hope the roots and branches survive and it regrows as it is one of my favourite garden plants and so important for winter green. 
  • VeilchenblauVeilchenblau Posts: 45
    Randommoose1 said:
    Well my Griselina (2mx2m size) has now succumbed to the same thing as yours @naomigreig and @Veilchenblau. Most of the leaves have fallen (some turned black but most fell while green), stems have turned black and mushy. It is worse the higher up the plant. There are still some green buds but any  green buds or green leaves on black stems die off after a while. So I am waiting to see how far the black spreads and whether it kills the whole plant. The majority of the twigs are black and bendy now. I really really hope the roots and branches survive and it regrows as it is one of my favourite garden plants and so important for winter green. 
    I have tried in vain it seems, to save mine (10 plants total, two varieties).  The variegated type which are shown above and which were in a different location have totally succumbed and died.  I’m slowly losing the battle with the rest, each day they seem to die off a bit more, going black, leaves fading and dropping etc. They are as you say, affected from the top. 

    I spoke to a very knowledgeable and local commercial plant grower in my village about them and they said they lost all of theirs too in the nursery. 

    They doubted I’d be able to save them and so far they have been proven right. They say the cause was an unusually warm November followed by a sudden cold snap in December  (plants didn’t go into their normal dormant phase as they should and became damaged).  They said the last time it happened was in 1983 or 1984 (sorry I can’t recall the exact year). But we have also since lost 3 pittosporum and 8 hebe’s (others survived in other parts of the garden). 

    They mentioned that a number of customers have reported losing Griselinia, and those two types of plants as well. All of which you would have normally expected to have been ok. They have recommended we replace them with Portuguese Laurel as that was totally unscathed. 

    I shall miss the lovely bright green of the Griselinia :( . 
  • Randommoose1Randommoose1 Posts: 99
    edited April 2023
    @Veilchenblau I'm sorry to hear all ten of yours died. I faced up to dealing with mine today, I felt really sad about it. It is one of my favourite garden plants for the cheerful bright green, especially through winter. 

    It sounds like this year has really done for them with the nurseries losing all their stock as well.

     I took off everything that was black/mushy (some still had green leaves but the stems were dead). I scrape tested the branches and under the bark most of them were either brown, dry and falling apart or black and slimy. A few were green higher up but then brown closer to the trunk so I think those are dead but just don't know it yet. I have left those to see if they survive. There is one small branch from the root flare which is green all the way down but that was the only one.

    This winter has killed everything that was half hardy in my garden (Griselina, variegated Pittosporum, passionflower) as well as caused problems for other hardy plants (though they have survived). Even though I am in Gloucestershire with a milder climate I don't think I can trust half hardy plants to survive any more with the climate changing and becoming more variable.

    I really miss the Griselina.
Sign In or Register to comment.