LITTLE ROCK — Q As soon as I got my dracaena corn plant home, the trunk’s leaves started dying off. I started cutting them back and before long they were all dead. Then the trunk started getting soft but stopped in a short time. What do I do now?
A I would say it got either too wet or too cold. Corn plants actually can tolerate fairly dry conditions. Cut out the soft tissue and damaged trunk. If it goes all the way to the ground, you probably have a dead plant. To be sure, dig it up and examine the roots. If they are brown and gummy, toss it. If they are full and white, give it a chance to send up another sprout. You might also visit with the store where you bought it and see whether they would replace it, or whether others had the same problem.
Q Last spring I planted bugle weed (the Chocolate Chip variety) on steep slopes at each end of our house. They didn’t seem to get a great start. I feel the hot, dry summer was a factor, even though I watered regularly to get them started. The winter weeds have been rampant and other weeds have popped up. Due to my age and arthritis problems and the steep slopes, I’m not able to hand weed them. Is there a spray I can use to kill the weeds and not do damage to the plants?
A Bugle weed or Ajuga reptans “Chocolate Chip” is a great ground cover, but I would suspect that last summer took its toll, especially due to the slope combined with heat and drought. Unfortunately, ajuga is a broadleaf plant, and anything that would kill the weeds that you have, which are also broadleaf plants, would also damage the ajuga.
If Bermuda or other grasses compose the base of your weeds, then there is a herbicide specifically for grass that would kill it (once it is green and growing) without hurting the ajuga. Many of the winter weeds are annuals and will die with the heat of summer. See if you can get some mulch in there around the ajuga to help exclude more weeds, and fertilize it to get it kicked into gear this spring.
Q I have a bunch of Encore azaleas that have bloomed every year since I planted them 2-3 years ago. The problem is they haven’t thrived. I took a cutting to a nursery and a guy there told me that the leaves were burnt. Is it possible that these azaleas are planted too close to the white siding of my house, so that the afternoon sun is being reflected onto these azaleas and burning them?
A Encore azaleas can tolerate more sunlight, but they do like water. Last summer took its toll on many plants. If they weren’t watered well, they could have been burned.
Winter damage can also cause burned leaves. Wait and see what happens this spring as they start growing, then assess the damage and prune them. Make sure they are mulched and watered, fertilize them after the first bloom and see how they do.
Q We live in Fayetteville.
We have a hibiscus that we have been keeping in the garage for the winter, and during days when the temperature does not get below 45 degrees we have been putting the plant outside. It has been doing real well until we had the snow and freezing weather several weeks ago. I had left the garage door open while I was scooping snow, and after that evening I noticed the leaves started to curl up and die. Just this last weekend I pulled all the leaves off and cut about 25 percent off all the limbs. Have I killed this hibiscus? Can I do anything to help this plant? Will it come back?
A First of all, don’t move your plants in and out during the winter.
Leave them in the garage until you move them out permanently. The goal is to keep them alive, but not thriving and growing. If they were exposed to below-freezing temperatures for any extended time it could be bad. If they are close to the house and not the open door, it could be just a burn. Cut them back by half when you move them back outside. Repot them into a new container and water and wait and see what happens. Don’t move them outside until mid-April to early May. Good luck.
Janet Carson is an extension horticulturist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. Write to her at P.O. Box 391, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or e-mail her at
HomeStyle, Pages 34 on 02/26/2011