Oleander Pruning/Care Advice

Morning all,

My potted Oleander did quite well last year, despite the terrible summer. I even got some flowers from it! However, I have had it in the unheated greenhouse over the winter, and it is now looking very sad. The leaves have dried up and are falling off, and overall it looks very unhealthy. I know that we had a cold winter, but the greenhouse never dipped much below freezing and I know that Oleanders can tolerate a small amount of cold. I also know that they are quite drought tolerant so I was careful not to over-water during the winter months.

I tried boosting it with some feed and replacement top compost last weekend to see if I could revive it, but it seems to be getting worse if anything The soil is now damp after giving it some water, but the leaves are still as dry as a bone. I have cut some of the shoots/branches right back as I have read that Oleanders can do well with hard pruning, and the plant it certainly still alive. I just can't work out what is wrong with it!

Any ideas anyone? Should I be pruning more off and hoping it regrows, or less and trying to save the dry and dying leaves?

 

Hello Dave

I can only respond to how they are treated here which may be quite differently than there.

I have two in the ground which I have never pruned in the ten years I've had them so they are very large, three meters plus tall.

Many of the streets and medians in towns are lined with Oleanders and they get VERY heavily pruned once every couple of years, ie, half at least. Any frost-damaged leaves here are left to fall off on their own and dried out leaves will not recover and will also drop. Therefore, sadly you will not save the dry and dying leaves.

I'm sure someone will come along and advise you what action is best for your current situation.

Hopefully it will recover for you ... they are truly a beautiful shrub and the scent of them here in the warmth is wonderful.

Good luck!

 

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am big fan of all things Greek and, like Portugal, some of my favourite plants there are Oleanders (and bougainvillea, but that's this year's challenge ).

I think it is probably the freezing weather over the winter that has done the leaves in, I guess I'll just have to hope that that plant itself will make a (slow) recovery! Maybe no new flowers this year! :O

 

Dave, dont sound good does it?

I think you might have kept it just a bit too dry, or maybe the frost was just a bit too much, even under glass.
If its still alive it might recover but probably slowly.

I'd keep it as warm as possible with as much sunshine as possible and hope for some basal shoots.
Probably best to keep it only just damp at the moment until you see some new growth.

 

Hi Pete - no it doesn't look great. I am keeping it in the greenhouse until further notice and hoping that it does recover. From reading a few websites, it seems like you can't kill the things in certain parts of the world - even colder ones! So here's hoping!

Has this happened to anyone else over this cold winter?

 

Dave, even down here I left three Oleanders in pots outside from November and like yours they have turned mostly brown.:( The two I planted in a raised bed are green and untouched but in a more sheltered spot, I hope these two will flower again but the pot ones I am not so sure.

 

Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised up here then, Strongy! I am not giving up hope on it, and will certainly not chuck it away. One thing I noticed when I out in the greenhouse today though - a lot of ants crawling on the pot and the stumps where I have pruned. Do you think they are stealing a bit of sap, or something more sinister?

 

Don't know Dave but if they are then they are immune to it's toxicity, it's lethal to us!!!