Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am new to gardening. We moved to a house that has variegated liriope as a defined border around the two bushes outside our house. For the two years we have lived here, the liriope has looked very disheveled and ugly with a lot of brown leaves. I quickly did an internet search and read that you can mow the liriope down to get rid of the unsightly brown leaves. I neglected to read that this should be done in either February or March before new growth!
Have I killed the liriope? Will they grow back at all this spring/summer? If not, will they grow back next spring? They look worse than before and I am so terribly sorry I didn't do further research! I can post a photo if necessary. Thanks!
It's a great plant for the color of the leaves, the little purple blue flowers, the deer resistance.
It's good in full to part shade.
If it's in a border I wonder if it is actually undertrees, which the variegated likes better. They should be in part to full shade. The greener liriope has done well in sun for me...and, along the same lines but smaller, mondo grass, if you need an alternative.
But yours may be getting too much sun.
How long has it been there? And what's the soil doing? It may be too packed in there.
It may be effected by some frost that came through unexpectedly lately since I think I see you may be in that area.
It's still spring. I'd still try cutting back and dividing. Fertilize too. They need a spa day, in effect.
I used to use Peter's Soluble on them but that has to be bought in bulk now for some reason. Love the stuff but I have seen some other good fertilizer ideas on here as well.
That stuff is almost impossible to kill. It just might not look it's best right now. Maybe it needs to be divided /thinned out like you do with day lilies and irises.
They are mostly in the sun in sandy soil (I believe). I already mowed it down this past weekend and it looks awful now. I'm wondering if it will stay like that all spring/summer or grow back a little. I've never fertilized them before. Any particular fertilizer I should look for?
I don't think the question is "did I kill it" so much as "can it be killed?"
I know that regular monkey grass (liriope) is difficult to kill. Variegated liriope is not quite so tough - it is slower growing and doesn't spread as much.
If you mean by 'mow' and 'looks awful' you mean even their base was sticking higher that the softer grass so they a brown circles....well, it will be an adventure. What can you lose.
So, like I said, you considered the 'cutting back'...maybe a little more enthusiastically. Now, you can leave them, use an all purpose liquid fertilizer for a quicker release...but not too much. And then water well...along the row of them. In the south especially, it's fine to water around the plant since it can get so dry. Put some good mulch down too. It looks good and will hold the water in and protect the plants.
Keep an eye on the variegated liriope. It should come back up. Then you can consider putting more effort into them. Like fall digging up and dividing and doing so in a more shaded area that won't stress them as much.
I'm going to be doing something similar, in fact. I have variegated liriope in a little area where it's doing okay, just sparse. I can't work with it too much since a cardinal decided the holly bush nearby would be perfect for her family nest. I'm babying the liriope through summer and meantime am looking for a place to plant it.
I will go out and grab an all purpose liquid fertilizer. We actually do not have any mulch around them right now since we cleaned up all the old pine straw to put down mulch this weekend. I also have not watered them! I won't be able to mulch the area until this weekend, but I can fertilize and water them today if that will help.
Also, if they do not survive, what can we use as fill dirt for the holes if we have to dig them up? Thanks again! This is definitely a learning process!
And don't over compensate with too much fertilizer. Just a little at a time and see how it's going. You can actually take them up even now and move to a shadier area. If you have time, that would be ideal. But, if not, for the time being, at least keep them going and see if they are looking like they'll make it before moving them. But they do need help now anyway.
Too much, too high of a concentration of fertilizer will burn. I would use half strength of a water soluble fertilizer like miracle grow, if any at all. Leaving them be it probably the best thing to do if you think they have been overly cut back.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
