Fuschia Tree Problem

Hi, I'd be really grateful if someone could help me with a problem I have with a fuschia tree. We inherited it when we moved to our house and I believe it has been here since the garden was orginially landscaped (approx 20 years ago), I guess it is a couple of meters high. A while ago we decided that it needed some tidying up so we pruned some branches off but it wasn't a really hard pruning, then we had the first really cold winter. The next spring/summer all of the original branches had died off i.e no leaves or flowers came back and it was looking pretty dead but I decided to leave it as it was to see if it came back this year. However it did sprout quite a bit of new growth from the base that flowered. Neadless to say that the original branches are not showing any signs of growth this year and also the new branches from last year are also not showing any signs of life yet but there is again new growth starting to come through at the base again. I assumed that the branches that grew last year would continue to grow/flower this year but it doesn't seem to be the case (so far). I'm now not quite sure what to do with the tree as I don't want to loose it as it was so beautiful but is the only thing I can do is to cut it right back each year and just let the new growth sprout from the bottom each year, in which case I guess it would be just like a bush. I can only assume that the pruning (we did in autumn which I belive might be the wrong time) and the last 2 harsh winters we have had have taken their toll on the tree but I don't understand how it became a tree in the first place if it isn't growing on the old wood now? I would appreciate any help with what I should do as you can probably tell I am not an experienced gardener but I do my best. Thanks

 

Hi sa100. I am no expert on Fuchsias, and I hope someone with more knowledge can help. As I understand it there are loads of different Fuchsias, which are all essentially bushes. I suspect yours became a tree because someone pruned it that way.

Most Fuchsias are borderline hardy - even the so called "hardy" ones. I have a gardener friend who told me many "hardy" Fuchsias died in the winter before last in her client's gardens, and the recent winter has been even worse.

I believe Fuchsias have thousands of potential growing points under the bark, and so can sprout from recent or very old wood. Perhaps it was only the very old wood that was thick enough to protect these buds. In theory, if we have mild winters again, I see no reason that it can't grow and be prunned into a tree again.

 

I'm guessing its to do with the last three hard winters.

Fuchsias are tender and some do overwinter and regrow from the old wood the following season in mild years.

We had a succession of mild winters up until three years ago, and now we seem to be getting colder ones.

So I guess your fuchsia "tree" grew a large stem/trunk during the mild winters and has now been killed right back to the ground by frost.

 

As Both Peter and Pete say ,'Hardy' fuchsias in general would died down to grown level in the winter and reshoot from the base rather than previous years wood .In milder areas previous wood often withstands the milder winters and will reshot ...This then tends to produce larger bushes or tree like plants .You can put some extra mulching over the base during the winter to give extra protection .Also if you want to be sure not to lose a favorite fuchsia root a few cuttings to keep over winter, just in case ...
Dave

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your answers and feel a bit better that I am not completely to blame. I have attached a photo of the tree in question. I guess I am going to have to cut it right down, does anyone know if I should do this to the base or leave some there (so not to kill the new growth at the base)? Also, can I do this now or do I have to wait until the autumn? Lastly, I am taking from your answers that (unless we start to have mild winters again) I will have to cut it back each year from now on? sorry for the continous questions, I just want to do my best for this (once) pretty little tree. Thanks

 

That really is a tree how sad to have to lose it.. Cut it down to where you see the new growth coming out .You will just need to see how each spring goes as regards how bad it is cut back by the winter weather..

Dave

 

Its always sad to lose the top growth on any tender plant that has survived for years and become a real specimen plant.

Unfortunately its bound to happen one winter.

Then we have to start again.

Getting it going again can be difficult as the thicker the stem and the riper the wood the more likely it is to survive, so any new shoot this summer are going to be more tender than the tree was before.

My F. excortica has also been killed to the ground, so I might give the new shoots that form this summer a bit of fleece protection next winter

 

sa100, I wouldn't be in a rush to cut it down. My neighbour next door has one, the same size as yours, that is looking very dead. She was resigned to cutting it down, but when we looked closely we could see tiny pinpoints of green in two or three places high up. If it can sprout from high up it means the stem between there and the ground is alive and so could sprout in other places. Its still very early in the season.

 

Thanks PeterS I left the tree for the whole of last summer to see if it came back and it didn't on any of the branches in the photo, it just sprouted from the bottom. Do you think I'm right in assuming that if it didn't come back last year it wont this year?

 

Ok, its too late now. I contemplated whether to leave it but when we started chopping it was obviously that there was no life at all in the branches. Im now waiting with fingers crossed that it returns. I'll let you all know how we get on. Thanks for the help,