it is a very slow growing plant, so I actually, in all these years, I never pruned my plants, but I would suggest prune it after blooming, early spring, very lightly
Hi, what is the best fertilizer for skimmies? Last autumn I planted four next to each other in deep shade under the fence: Perosa, Kew White, Rubella and Reevesiana. Greets from Plymouth....
Hello, I don't fertilise them as mine seem to actually thrive on neglect, but I read the best fertiliser are granules for acid loving plants like Camellias and Rhododendrons. Definitely, if you planted a few months ago, will benefit with fertiliser, but fertilise them in spring when they are in active growth ;)
Hi Many thanks for giving such information on the Skimmia plants. When I purchased early 2022 both plants with exception of female plant losing some leaves were doing very well. By summer 2022 moved both to a raised border which is shaded. The male plant apart from new “leaf growth being knurly” is doing good. The female plant has not developed, some “signs of flower but stunted” with a “pale green leaf with pink edge” much “leaf drop”. I was advised to add some Epsom Salts around plant which I did in October. There’s being no improvement at all in fact it’s just stagnant. The conditions; “full shade”, “damp soil”; “ph 7.5/8 around plant”, ph 5.5 under stem. I’m living in the south of ireland..
Hello, by now both Skimmias should be already in bud. not sure how you can keep pH 7.5 around the plant and 5.5 under the stem, however I never bothered to check my pH conditions. Maybe the area of shade is too shady?
One of my fave shrubs because they grow well in our shady garden, right under a large old oak and next to a fence. I'd been looking for a female berrying plant for a while to join the males I had. They root easily from cuttings too I have six new female plants from cuttings I started in water. Interesting that they're in the citrus (Rutaceae) family I didn't know but you can see it from the leathery thick leaves and flower scent.
very pleased you managed to find the female plants, I love the combination of Skimmia fragrant flowers and their bright red berries!!! Thanks for the very interesting comment
Just a mistake correcting: Monoecious plant has both male and female organs/flowers on one plant. Dioecious plant has either male or female flower only. Skimmias available are mostly (self-sterile) dioecious, meaning you need two plants with different sex to have berries on the female one. Male Skimmias are for examlple: 'Fragrans', 'Rubella', 'Perosa', Females are : 'Red Riding Hood', 'Pabella', 'Temptation' Of course you might plant one male and multiple females closely around. It is accepted in gardeners world :P
thanks very much for noticing my error, apologies, I will correct immediately the description. Yes definitely widely accepted in the gardener world the use of on male for lots of female plants :D Cheers!!!
Hi can you help me please? I friend just gave me a huge skimmia japonica… I think…. Bright red berries and lighter green leaves. He’s dropped it off with a tiny amount of roots really do I fear it was dug up a bit savagely 😧 what can I do to give it a good chance of survival please? It’s a huge shrub fir such a small root ball 😢
Maybe would be better to cut the branches about the same size of the root ball, or slightly bigger (ensuring that there are some leaves on the branches) , otherwise might be difficult for the roots to support and handle all the water requirements of the foliage. Keep it well watered, luckily it is winter so evaporation is not an issue. I wish you the best of luck with your Skimmia, they're very robust plants so hopefully the plant will survive
My Skimmia have died back since I planted them. They are in ph 6/6.5 soil. It appears to be slightly eaten in places. What would you recommend me to do? I already added two year old horse manure and ericacious compost but the plants are now half the size I bought them at. Please advise, great video thanks deirdre
Thanks very much for the very nice comment. About your Skimmias, first of all I would ensure they are in a place with partial shade or light shade, they are not tolerant of full sun. Also they need moist soil, and keep up with watering is of paramount importance if they have been newly planted, or are in a very dry environment; they can tolerate some drought but not extended periods without water. Also, I would investigate what might have eaten your plants, usually Skimmias are very pest resistant so it is quite uncommon to have animals eating them. If you have some kind of pest eating your Skimmias, this might be an important factor in the decrease of vigour and size: some parasites can completely destroy some species of plants. Hope my recommendations might help. What USDA zone are you and what area / county/state/country are you?
I’m in northwestern coast of Ireland. I have spotted an over zealous pheasant eating my seeds in other areas , perhaps she had a nibble from my Skimmia. I’ve transplanted them into spacious pots of ericacious soil to help with their recovery 🤞
@@deirdrebrowne512 repotting Skimmias was definitely a good idea, please ensure to keep them moist and in shade, hopefully they will recover quickly!!!
Thank you! 🌹🙂
you are very welcome
Can you tell me how and when you can prune.? Thanks
it is a very slow growing plant, so I actually, in all these years, I never pruned my plants, but I would suggest prune it after blooming, early spring, very lightly
Thank you
@@Trafficjohn57 you are very welcome
Hi, what is the best fertilizer for skimmies? Last autumn I planted four next to each other in deep shade under the fence: Perosa, Kew White, Rubella and Reevesiana. Greets from Plymouth....
Hello, I don't fertilise them as mine seem to actually thrive on neglect, but I read the best fertiliser are granules for acid loving plants like Camellias and Rhododendrons. Definitely, if you planted a few months ago, will benefit with fertiliser, but fertilise them in spring when they are in active growth ;)
Hi
Many thanks for giving such information on the Skimmia plants. When I purchased early 2022 both plants with exception of female plant losing some leaves were doing very well. By summer 2022 moved both to a raised border which is shaded. The male plant apart from new “leaf growth being knurly” is doing good. The female plant has not developed, some “signs of flower but stunted” with a “pale green leaf with pink edge” much “leaf drop”. I was advised to add some Epsom Salts around plant which I did in October. There’s being no improvement at all in fact it’s just stagnant. The conditions; “full shade”, “damp soil”; “ph 7.5/8 around plant”, ph 5.5 under stem. I’m living in the south of ireland..
Hello, by now both Skimmias should be already in bud. not sure how you can keep pH 7.5 around the plant and 5.5 under the stem, however I never bothered to check my pH conditions. Maybe the area of shade is too shady?
One of my fave shrubs because they grow well in our shady garden, right under a large old oak and next to a fence. I'd been looking for a female berrying plant for a while to join the males I had. They root easily from cuttings too I have six new female plants from cuttings I started in water. Interesting that they're in the citrus (Rutaceae) family I didn't know but you can see it from the leathery thick leaves and flower scent.
very pleased you managed to find the female plants, I love the combination of Skimmia fragrant flowers and their bright red berries!!! Thanks for the very interesting comment
So easy to propagate
I never tried to propagate it, my garden is too full already :D
Great info thanks 👍🏻
very pleased that you enjoyed the video, thanks very much for the nice comment
Just a mistake correcting:
Monoecious plant has both male and female organs/flowers on one plant.
Dioecious plant has either male or female flower only.
Skimmias available are mostly (self-sterile) dioecious, meaning you need two plants with different sex to have berries on the female one.
Male Skimmias are for examlple: 'Fragrans', 'Rubella', 'Perosa', Females are : 'Red Riding Hood', 'Pabella', 'Temptation'
Of course you might plant one male and multiple females closely around. It is accepted in gardeners world :P
thanks very much for noticing my error, apologies, I will correct immediately the description. Yes definitely widely accepted in the gardener world the use of on male for lots of female plants :D Cheers!!!
Hi can you help me please? I friend just gave me a huge skimmia japonica… I think…. Bright red berries and lighter green leaves. He’s dropped it off with a tiny amount of roots really do I fear it was dug up a bit savagely 😧 what can I do to give it a good chance of survival please? It’s a huge shrub fir such a small root ball 😢
Maybe would be better to cut the branches about the same size of the root ball, or slightly bigger (ensuring that there are some leaves on the branches) , otherwise might be difficult for the roots to support and handle all the water requirements of the foliage. Keep it well watered, luckily it is winter so evaporation is not an issue. I wish you the best of luck with your Skimmia, they're very robust plants so hopefully the plant will survive
My Skimmia have died back since I planted them. They are in ph 6/6.5 soil. It appears to be slightly eaten in places. What would you recommend me to do? I already added two year old horse manure and ericacious compost but the plants are now half the size I bought them at. Please advise, great video thanks deirdre
Thanks very much for the very nice comment. About your Skimmias, first of all I would ensure they are in a place with partial shade or light shade, they are not tolerant of full sun. Also they need moist soil, and keep up with watering is of paramount importance if they have been newly planted, or are in a very dry environment; they can tolerate some drought but not extended periods without water. Also, I would investigate what might have eaten your plants, usually Skimmias are very pest resistant so it is quite uncommon to have animals eating them. If you have some kind of pest eating your Skimmias, this might be an important factor in the decrease of vigour and size: some parasites can completely destroy some species of plants. Hope my recommendations might help. What USDA zone are you and what area / county/state/country are you?
I’m in northwestern coast of Ireland. I have spotted an over zealous pheasant eating my seeds in other areas , perhaps she had a nibble from my Skimmia. I’ve transplanted them into spacious pots of ericacious soil to help with their recovery 🤞
@@deirdrebrowne512 repotting Skimmias was definitely a good idea, please ensure to keep them moist and in shade, hopefully they will recover quickly!!!