Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Help All you Green Thumbs!!!

As I've mentioned many time before...I have NO green thumb whatsoever. Ironically, I LOVE gardening each Spring. My birthday present from my parents each year (Memorial Day Birthday) is plants for the yard and my present from Steve is the time to go plant them without little boys helping me..

Last year, I received two plants for Mother's Day and I planted them both. One of them died and one of them sort of survived. By the end of the summer it was looking pretty bad and I was going to pull it. Someone told me to leave it and see what happens this spring. I did.

As you can see, the branches all sticking up are TOTALLY DEAD. They snap when bent.
However, there is new growth underneath that actually looks really healthy.

I think it's either a hydrangea or an azalea. Those are the two I got but I don't know which one it is. Any guesses?

Here's the question, do I pull it or leave it? Do I cut off the dead branches down to the ground or leave them? I hope someone can help me. I need to make a decision before I spread mulch around that area.

Please help!

14 comments:

marcia@joyismygoal said...

You can cut it at the base-- but do not pull it for risk of pulling out the new growth too:) just use scissors

Shannon @ Gabi's World said...

Since my thumb is pretty brown, I won't offer any advice. I hope you get the answers you need.

Ladybug Crossing said...

Congrats on your new bells! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. The AGEHR is there for you, as well.
xo
LBC

Deb said...

You know I can't answer this one! But I usually trim off the old, brown stuff when I see new, green stuff coming up.

Technical, aren't I? ;)

Laski said...

I wish I knew . . . I have no green thumb, but I do have the desire to plant stuff all the time. Unfortunately, desire is not enough.

Go little hydrangea or azalea or whatever you are . . . GROW. LIVE. GROW!!!

Chrissy said...

I wish I could offer some nugget of wisdom, but I'm clueless when it comes to plants. My suggestion (based on complete ignorance) would be to wait and let more of the green stuff come in before doing anything with the seemingly dead stuff. Good luck!

Shannon said...

Well I don't consider myself an expert, but I can tell you that when you cut, not pull, the old stuff off it will send more nutrients to the parts that are trying to grow. It looks like your soil is really dark (Utah is mostly sand) but you might want to check with a local nursary for tips on things you can add to the soil to help add more nutrients to the plant. This just might be a plant that needs trimming back every year.

Jenny said...

Good luck!

I have no advice to offer since I tend to kill all living plants just by glancing their way, but I hope you keep us updated!

Blessings!

Courtney said...

No advice for you, but when is your birthday? Mine is the same time of year so I was just curious.

MomOf4 said...

I concur! Cut the brown stuff off - don't pull it! It is neat that it is blooming again!

Betsy, short for Elizabeth, formally known as Esther said...

First, what kind of plant is this? Is it a hydrangea? If so do NOT cut it. Just leave it and wait and see.

Second, is that dirt?????

Margerie said...

LOL you are a girl after my own heart! A brown thumb who loves to garden....

Anyway, I have a similar-looking plant. I know it is a hibiscus. Every winter I trim back the sticks and think it will never recover. But I have sprouts coming up too now. And in the past, by the end of May, it is a gorgeous bush full of hibiscus flowers

I vote for leave it alone and take a picture every week so we can see what is going on :)

Susan said...

It's doing just what it's supposed to--dying back in the winter and coming out again in the spring. So pat yourself on the back--you're a gardening success! I would say it's either a hibiscus or a hydrangea.

Don't pull. You can cut back the branches. I would give it some compost or new topsoil too.

I garden by procrastination. So many times I've not gotten around to getting rid of something I thought was dead, and then I get a wonderful surprise when it comes back.

CC said...

could it be a rhodedendrum? those have hard sticks and as much as I've tried (really, I don't want it) to kill mine I can't