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Nerium oleander - needs a little help

LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
in Plants
Hi all

I have this Nerium oleander planned that seems to have taken a bit of a hit over winter. The last third or so of the branches have become very squidgy. However, there does appear to be some new foliage appearing much further down so it’s not completely dead. Should I prune it back hard? I’m not sure what that might or might not do!

 Thanks


I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 
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  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Latimer I am suprised to see one outside and alive in the UK? They can be pruned but I have only ever cared for one under glass. They are toxic so gloves needed if you go ahead.
    @Obelixx or @Nollie may be able to help.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
    Thanks @GardenerSuze. My parents had two of them outside in containers for ages and I nicked one! I do think they had them in a much more sheltered spot though, maybe that’s why they survived 🤷🏽‍♂️
    I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited April 2023
    They are widely planted here but still need shelter as they don't like it when it gets cold. -5C is their limit so you need to think about providing some shelter or fleecing it next winter.

    I would leave it alone for now as the upper stems, tho dead, will protect those new shoots from frost so wait till mid May before pruning back to just above the highest live shoots.  You never know, some more shoots may appear as the weather warms up. 

    As @GardenerSuze says, they are poisonous in all their parts so wear gloves and don't risk a poke in the eye either.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
    Thanks @Obelixx!
    I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    I have them growing in the garden down here in a sheltered spot. I had to prune them quite severely once after a very severe winter. They all survived but there were no flowers in that summer, so yours will probably be the same. 
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    Cut them back hard.

    << Oleander sap. Featured snippet from the web
    The plant is so poisonous that even drinking water from a vase holding a bloom can cause a severe reaction. The gummy sap can cause irritation when it comes in contact with the skin, and even smoke from burning the plant can cause severe adverse reactions. Symptoms of oleander poisoning include: Blurred vision.  >>

    The sap's antifreeze enabled my oleander to overwintr in a cold greenhouse down to -5ºC.  Like euphorbias, keep the sap off your clothes.

    The only plant I handle with gloves is giant hogweed.  Apart from roses that is.
     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."
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I handled mine for years before I found out that they were poisonous! Now I just wash my hands afterwards. I don't have sensitive skin though, others might react very differently.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I don’t think you necessarily need to prune ‘hard’, just wait until your risk of frost is over then cut down to good green wood. As a standard (grafted?) specimen it may suffer from exposure more than the usual multi-stem.

    I can’t grow them here @GardenerSuze, my mountain winters are too severe, but they grow with abandon nearer the coast.

    There are usually a handful of oleander-related deaths here every year, because unwitting wild campers cut them down for use as handy barbecue skewers. Don’t burn the cuttings!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Nollie Not only are the flowers beautiful but the scent is too. I should have realised your location wouldn't suit them!
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
    Thanks everyone, I think I’ll move it back into a container and keep it somewhere a little more sheltered. As it is I wasn’t that happy with the spot it was in. If it shows some life in a couple of months I’ll give it a prune
    I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 
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