I am gardening for hire this year and last. My client has large, well established, woody Russian Sage plants which were the glory of the garden last summer. I didn't know that I should prune the Russian Sage back and so didn't. This spring I noticed that the dead branch ends were just sitting there, not getting any new leaves so I did some internet research and learned that I should have pruned it. So I went, late as it was, and pruned back the dead branch ends. I left any new leaf buds that were starting part way down the branches, pruning to just above these. I later observed that some whole branches were just dead, and these were large, (about 3/4" in diameter) old, woody branches that were very much alive last summer. Also, on many of the branches I had pruned back to the new leaf growth, the new leaves have started to shrivel. Yesterday I cut out all the old dead branches, which left a huge hole in what was recently a large and vibrant shrub. It is now more hole than shrub. There is some healthy looking new growth in some places, but I'm worried about those shriveling new leaves. I hope someone can tell me what is going on and what I should do, now and in the future. Thanks!
Thanks so much for your reply. Do you know for sure? Is that the only possibility? In that case, do you think it can recover or will I have to remove it?
