Sad & leggy-looking. Sage revival techniques, anyone?
Oh dear. My three pots of sage have survived the winter but they’re not looking very happy about it. They’re all basically bundles of long, dead-straight twigs with little umbrellas of new leaf growth at the top. I’m scared to cut them back at all, since that would take away the only foliage they have available to them, but if I don’t cut them back will they remain this gangly and silly-looking forever?
Any suggestions for how to revive sad-looking sage at the end of winter? Should I repot (these will have been in the same mix for about 9 months now)? Fertilize? Water more? Water less? Prune back? Leave it alone and hope for the best? Help!
I am somewhat tempted to put some of this in the ground ‘to see what happens’ but I’m still in the middle of figuring out where my spring beds are going, and I don’t want to plant anything new til I’ve made up my mind.
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Glittertrash's Sage progress journal
This entry is about Glittertrash's Sage that
is currently in the Nunnery Herb Garden garden garden.
Sydney, Australia
Buzz buzz buzz!
Listen in on the Grapevine
Warick wrote:
Hello Glittertrash..
I too have a similar problem with sage getting too leggy after winter, but with my plant there are usually some leaves lower down the stems or near the base you can prune too..And this can be done year after year without any problem.. But in your case if there are no leaves lower down i can only suggest you maybe re-pot it with a new quality potting mix and water with a weak seaweed soloution and see how it goes, until your ready to transplant to a more permanent position..
Posted on 31 Aug 08 (about 4 months ago)
Janietta wrote:
I’ve had this happen even to the sage I have in the ground. What I generally do is wait a week or two, while watching the base of the plant. As soon as I see growth there, snip, off comes the leggy part.
Posted on 31 Aug 08 (about 4 months ago)
Glittertrash wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve been hesitant to even harvest any leaves since those little bursts at the top are all they’ve got. Hopefully they’ll start leafing from the base soon and I’ll cut them right back.
Posted on 31 Aug 08 (about 4 months ago)
Rainymountain wrote:
You have 3 pots, so I would cut one down to about 2-3" high. I am fairly sure that it will leaf from the base, if it doesn’t you still have 2 more to experiment with :-) We usually severely cutback the sage bushes in the garden in the spring, a bit like pruning roses, and by the end of summer they have grown huge again.
Posted on 31 Aug 08 (about 4 months ago)
Nax wrote:
Do you cut your sage back before winter? I usually cut mine back either in fall once the leaves have dried/died, or in spring when the low leave first start to appear, and it always comes back bushy (albeit slowly).
Posted on 01 Sep 08 (about 4 months ago)
Glittertrash wrote:
I didn’t cut it back before winter- which I probably should have done but I was so proud of how bushy & healthy it was looking autumn. I gave one plant a good hard cut back a few days ago, I’ll see how it responds and probably follow up with the others.
Posted on 02 Sep 08 (about 4 months ago)
Verthandei wrote:
My own sage are really leggy (though not quite as sad), mostly as a result of being crowded out by the pineapple sage I’m afraid. I’ll be interested to see if this works for you – mine has a few small leaves at the base, so I’m thinking of repotting it and trying the cut-back technique as well.
Posted on 02 Sep 08 (about 4 months ago)