Problem Skimmia - What to do

Hi all,

I have a skimmia that is looking quite poorly and wondered what I can do. I have some 12 month old part-composted shreddings from woody conifers and silver birch and wondered if this would be a good mulch. The area it is planted in does get a bit of afternoon sun but is is quite well shaded by a massive mahonia and a bamboo and a fence. I guess for the most part of the year it is pretty well shaded but when the sun is high in the summer it is baked a bit. I also have some ericacious liquid feed to hand as well. I can't move it due to its location but want to give it a fighting chance where it is.

I'm willing to give it a good hard prune if that would not kill it.

What do people think?

Thanks all.
Paul

 

It looks a bit chlorotic to me, I think I'd have to give it a bit of a prune back as well as a good few liquid feeds.
Might take a while before it looks good though.

 

Thanks for that. How hard back would you recommend for the prune? Happy to do that if it will rejuvanate it.

I did look at the RHS page for skimmia and they suggested that (quote) "Skimmias are not acid-loving plants and an application of iron treatments, such as Sequestrene, is unlikely to help."

.....which is why I am a bit confused and wanted to post on here to gather more "real world" advice. I am not disagreeing with you in any way I just want to understand.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I agree that chlorosis is probably the most likely cause.
Seaweed extract is a great tonic that will help.

The other possibility is that the soil is poor and dry and/or too much sun.
However it looks like a well -established shrub, so I'd try a mulch and some seaweed extract and ensure it doesn't dry out in the summer.

The yellow leaves will likely fall though.

 

I thought so too until the waters were muddied by RHS - grrr to them!

So I guess a hard prune might be in order and a mulch with my "slightly acidic" 2/3 rotted down shreddings + some seaweed extract at my next trip to the garden centre.

Do they take a hard prune or is this a step too far?

Thanks all,
Paul

 

Well I get that its not an ericaceous plant, as such, but that doesn't mean it cant be lacking iron surely, or hungry in general.
As to cutting back, to be honest I'd cut half back and hope for new shoots, I do remember cutting an old woody one back years ago and I seem to remember it came back ok, but it wasn't as big as yours.

Maybe someone else has cut one back hard recently.

 

It looks like it's been there quite a while, so maybe the soil is exhausted and missing some important micronutrients - seaweed extract should correct that and a mulch will preserve water.

Do bear in mind that the 'problem' likely happened last year (or was building up over several years) and the leaves are only now showing signs of distress.

A neighbour had one in a similar condition that I tried to revive initially using sequestrene - that had no effect (as per the RHS advice) and it eventually died.
It was planted in heavy clay that was bone dry in summer and she didn't water it ever, so it didn't have much of a chance.

Most of those I see in gardens around here have varying numbers of yellowing leaves and the soil here is slightly acidic.

 

Hi, Yes it is poor soil (inherited soil and plant) and I have neglected it a bit (apart from a cup of growmore in the spring each year and a water occasionally in the drought periods for the 10 years I have been here. What I plan to do is give it a good mulch with my bark/tree/branch compost and also (just for now) mix in some growmore (as it is readily to hand) and give it 3 cans of water to soak some of it in.

I will be sure to get some seaweed and in a month I will start to give it a bi-weekly can of that (diluted as per bottle) and a can of plain water (waterbutt) each week in-between. I can start the seaweed sooner if you guys don't think that will be overload (getting to the shops immediatly is not possible).

I half want to hack it back a bit but am worried it will kill it off totally. It is flowering too and I think a better feeding and watering regime may be the tonic it wants.

It is all too easy to forget about the shrubs that "tend" to look after themselves in favour of the dahlias and other more fussy plants .

If it still looks bad come the end of the summer I will give it a hard regeneration prune in the autumn and then give it another 6 months and if still not any sign of healthy greenery I will grub it out.


Thanks all.....

 

Just my thoughts, but if you do go for a cutback I would do it after flowering and not in autumn when its going dormant.

 

OK @pete. There you go - shows my ignorance. I will do that if it still looks awful after flowing next year or do you think I am wasting my time giving it a chance with the mulch/growmore and watering and seaweed for that long.

If you and others do then I will cut it back at the end of flowering this April/May. Based on the pictures how far back do you feel is appropriate. I completely understand that it might not work and just die on me - light trim (6-9" off each stem) or cut it down to about a foot of stalks or somewhere inbetween?

Cheers,
Paul

 

I dont think you are wasting your time if you like it, its not dead and it just needs a bit of TLC.

 

I will give it a stay of execution (w.r.t. hard pruning) for 1 year + the following flowering period then. In the meantime give it the TLC it deserves.

Cheers, Paul.

 

I expect I will regret asking this but any recommendations on liquid seaweed brands

I see Doff and multi-mite on the well known online site and I know the local garden shop sells doff. Don't want to get it if its Duff :-) Looks lie tesco also white lable the Doff and its pretty cheap at 3.50 for 1 litre.

 

For decades I've used Maxicrop seaweed extract, but over the past 10yrs the cost has rocketed as it has become more popular.
I still have some left but when I run out I plan to try-
Amazon.co.uk

Best to keep feed to a minimum while it's recovering.
Seaweed extract looks very potent, but it's not - just go easy on the growmore.

 

I agree, growmore is a bit harsh, just a sudden dump of nutrients then nothing.