Hi all, I have 2 California lilacs. They have been lovely over the last few years.This year though they are looking awful. Brown, curled leaves (the ones still left on)
Oh dear. We bought two Ceanothus Eldorado last year, and I assumed we could topiarise them into a dense hedge. They have gone all leggy, and I understand they don't like to be pruned, so we are stuck with them as they are. Ho hum...
It's always worth trying to prune a plant. I had a ceanothus that had become far too large for its position. I cut it virtually to the ground, promising myself that I would dig out the stump later. I didn't have the heart to dispose of it when it sprouted lots and lots of new growth. Thereafter, a light prune after flowering each year made a superb, compact plant.
I cut one right back, it was OK for a bit but snuffed it this year. I've got a nice photo of velvet shank (fungus) growing on it. One of the gardens I used to work in had some tightly clipped ceanothus, it had been there for ages, looked healthy but not very floriferous
My parents had a ceanothus which Pa used to clip tightly against the wall. When he could no longer do that and the visiting gardener gave it a bit more freedom it flowered beautifully. It lasted about 16 years on very slightly acidic seaside soil.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Sounds like death
California lilacs. Ceanothus? If so, they're relatively short lived.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Oh dear. We bought two Ceanothus Eldorado last year, and I assumed we could topiarise them into a dense hedge. They have gone all leggy, and I understand they don't like to be pruned, so we are stuck with them as they are. Ho hum...
It's always worth trying to prune a plant. I had a ceanothus that had become far too large for its position. I cut it virtually to the ground, promising myself that I would dig out the stump later. I didn't have the heart to dispose of it when it sprouted lots and lots of new growth. Thereafter, a light prune after flowering each year made a superb, compact plant.
I cut one right back, it was OK for a bit but snuffed it this year. I've got a nice photo of velvet shank (fungus) growing on it. One of the gardens I used to work in had some tightly clipped ceanothus, it had been there for ages, looked healthy but not very floriferous
In the sticks near Peterborough
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.