Newbie Help - Climbing Manhattan Euonymus

[Christine_P]

Hi Everyone!

I'm a new gardener… last year was my first year, and I probably have a lot to learn!

I planted climbing Manhattan Euonymus plants (large ones on a trellis) last year, at the direction of the local garden store. They said they would hold up OK in a large container on a roof, in my Hoboken, NJ climate. Unfortunately, the winter was super rough this year, and the plants now look sad, and half dead.

I'd like to know if anyone has any tips on the following:

1) What could have caused this? Just the temperature, or could they have a disease? They are normally a beautiful green, and are now spotted and not healthy looking.
2) They appear to be budding, so do you think they will regrow leaves?
3) When should I begin to fertilize?
4) Also, last year they started sprouting new growth all out of the bottom, fanning out. It isn't growth that is near the trellis to climb. Should I trim this and what is the best way to do so? (you can see this in the last photo)

I've attached a few photos of the plants.

Thank you so much for your help. I need it!
-Christine

 

[firelily99]

If they looked okay before it got cold then it was the nasty winter that caused it. I would cut them back as much as you can, focusing on getting the dead stuff off of them. I'd imagine that it is still cold in NJ, I live in CT and it is really chilly today. By leaving the dead stuff on the plant wastes energy on it so its better to cut it back as much as you can, obviously it grows really well during good conditions.

 

[Becky]

Hello @Christine_P and welcome to the forum!

Agreed that the damage is probably due to the cold weather you've had, but hopefully it should spring back to life in the spring. If it is budding then that's a good sign, so now would be a good time to feed it. Like firelily99 says it's also a good idea to prune back any dead branches, but try not to take off any of the new buds. The dead leaves should fall off on their own. To encourage thicker growth then pinch off the growing tip of shoots - particularly near the bottom if you're trying to train it upwards.

 

[firelily99]

Good point Becky, I forgot about the pinching thing! If there is any evidence of green on the plant then you can give it some fertilizer.