My sweet broom looks bad!! all the leaves are gone there is no folliage. an infestation of hairy caterpillars were all over it and i think they ate the whole thing (so they could become lovely butterlies of course), and now it looks dead.
will it come back? it is very established and large. But i am not sure if i cut the branches off to prune it if it will cause harm. Please gardeners! let me know!
thank you
2007-08-09 05:46:39 · 3 answers · asked by Elisheva 4 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Are the stems still green? If so, the plant is still photosynthesizing . Cutting back now is risky as the plants are going dormant.....they start earlier than most people believe. Cutting back might stimulate new growth that will be killed in the cold weather coming. Still, who wants naked stems......so some trimming back if fine for beauty, even though you really want to cut it WAY back......don't. Hopefully the damage done was after the plant had stored away enough energy and next spring leaves will return and all will be well. Brooms tend to get a little "leafless" naturally, that's why I asked about the stems.
2007-08-09 10:25:53 · answer #1 · answered by fluffernut 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I dont know anything about sweet broom, but the first thing you can do with any plant is to cut a stem close to the ground and see if it still has any life left to it. I went to this website that says cut back spent blooms, so you may be able to cut it off at ground level and let it start over. go look and see if it is the same plant:
http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/aridplant_index.html
good luck
2007-08-09 10:29:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
sorry
2007-08-11 13:05:03 · answer #3 · answered by Jae 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋