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Veronica Stems Dying Back

DaveGreigDaveGreig Posts: 189
in Problem solving
Does anybody know why some of the stems on my Veronica are dying back. It’s not short of moisture and it doesn’t happen to all the stems. Same happened last year, everything was fine then half the stems curled up, wilted and fell over. Sorry I can’t see how to get the images to rotate on my iPad.

Posts

  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,872

    @DaveGreig.    You can see them more clearly now.   :)
    Don't have any answers sorry.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @DaveGreig A long shot but has anyone been spraying chemicals. I realise the same would have happened last year. Did the whole plant continue to die back or was there recovery?
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The foliage looks very depleted too - pale and generally unhealthy, like a nutrient deficiency. What is the ground/soil like ?
    What else is growing around and near it @DaveGreig? If it was a spray affecting it, there would usually be signs on other planting too. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Could those stems just have been damaged from the base.  Veronicas are not usually fussy about soils,  they grow like weeds here. I would cut those out from the bottom and see what happens. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    It's strange that only some of the stems are affected. Could those ones have been nibbled or broken off at the base? It looks to me like veronicastrum rather than veronica, and the stems start off rather soft when they first start growing, quite easily broken. At this stage I think all you can do is carefully remove the dead/dying stems.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @JennyJ. 😀. Snap! 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DaveGreigDaveGreig Posts: 189
    Definitely no chemicals and I noticed the pics make the leaves look unhealthy but in real life they look fine. Around a third of the stems were affected last year and the rest were healthy and flowered. Yes it is a Veronicastrum, me bad. I’ve always called them Veronica’s because my grandad did. There’s geum, ranunculus, alliums, asters around it all looking fine.
    here’s a couple of stems I snecked at the base and you’ll see the rot in the stem starts about 4-6” from the bottom effectively killing all growth above.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    The problem does seem to be in the centre of the plant where it comes out of the ground seems ok too. Jusr the stems affected strange. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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