My large, mature choisya has lost almost all its leaves, and I'm wondering if I should wait for new growth on the bare branches, cut it right back, or dig it up. The soil in that bed doesn't have the greatest drainage, but it has thrived in that location for years. Thanks for any advice!
All the Choisya in my neighbourhood (east Van) look like death warmed over this spring. It's been a VERY long time since we had such a cold winter, and Choisya isn't the most hardy shrub out there. I'd wait until it leafs out and then prune off the winter kill. If it doesn't leaf out when you think it should, take a dull knife and carefully scrape off a tiny bit of bark from a branch. If it's green underneath the plant is still alive. If you do this with twigs you may not get an accurate picture since they could have been winter killed. If the poor thing is having trouble with all the recent rain, see what you can do to divert some of the runoff from around its roots for the short term. Good luck! I think all of us are struggling with the effects of the harsh weather.
Without photos its hard to see how bad they are and what to recommend Where are you located? I have 3 good sized choisya 'Aztec Pearl' that came through this winter just fine and I'm in east Van too
Thanks for your responses. I will wait and see if it leafs out. I am in Kerrisdale area in Vancouver. I do have one Aztec Pearl choisya that came through the winter looking okay.
This was a good winter to show the bit of extra hardiness in the Aztec Pearl variety. Here in Langley the Aztec are pretty scorched where the sun was on the frozen foliage, but otherwise they will come thru fine. Standard choisya are either dead or looking like it here!
