Oleanders give every garden a Mediterranean charm. However, those who do not adequately protect the frost-sensitive plants in winter often have to contend with frost damage in spring. But what to do if the beautiful oleander froze?

In a nutshell

  • Oleander very sensitive to frost
  • Vitality test to assess frost damage
  • single pruning to radical pruning necessary
  • Dispose of the plant if the root ball is frozen

oleander

Oleanders (Nerium oleander) are considered to be quite demanding garden plants. They are native to the Mediterranean and oriental areas and are therefore used to warm temperatures. For a short period of time, the oleander can withstand a maximum of minus 5 degrees Celsius. Longer periods of cold, on the other hand, affect the wood. The cold winters in Germany therefore often result in frost damage, especially in oleanders that overwinter outside. The frozen shoots then look brown and dried up.

Brown leaves indicate a frozen oleander.

Notice: Frozen and dried up oleanders are similar. Therefore, make sure that your oleander is not only suffering from a lack of water.

Frozen oleanders: what to do?

If you notice frost damage to your oleander, you should immediately place the wood in a frost-free place and warm the roots well. After a one-week regeneration phase, you can then use a vitality test to find out how far your oleander has frozen. To do this, simply use a knife or fingernail to scrape off bark from several areas that do not appear frozen. Is the plant tissue under the bark

  • green: wood still alive, only leaves/shoot tips dead
  • brown to black: twig irrevocably dead

The frozen parts of the plant should then be cut off with clean and sharp pruning shears shortly before the plant sprout. Depending on the severity of the frost damage, do the following:

  • with few leaves: cut up to the healthy branch
  • individual frozen shoots: cut back to the healthy, green initial shoot
  • Entire plant frozen: radical cut up to 10 to 20 centimeters above the ground

As long as the roots of the oleander are intact, it can always regenerate. However, if the roots are also frozen, the shrub has died irreversibly and should be disposed of. However, you can simply cut off individual brown roots.

After pruning, healthy oleander branches will grow back at the shoot tips.

After pruning, place the oleander in a sunny spot and take good care of it. Ideally, you should also plant the oleander in a new pot. Then there is the possibility that after a few weeks a strong budding will set in and the oleander will bloom in the same season.

Tip: After pruning, the oleander needs a lot of nutrients. Therefore, fertilize it vigorously as soon as the new shoots are about 10 centimeters long.

prevent frost damage

As with all plants, the same applies to oleanders: prevention is better than aftercare. To avoid your plant suffering frost damage in the first place, here are a few things to keep in mind before the first frost:

  • be sure to protect from ground frost
  • Pack the planter with warming material such as fleece
  • Outside: in a protected corner, e.g. on the wall of the house
  • In mild winters, the shrub can be buried in the garden with a container
  • better: spend the winter in a bright, frost-free room at 5 degrees Celsius

In this way, the oleander does not have to contend with consequential damage again in the following year and can fully recover.

On the house wall, oleander plants are better protected in autumn and spring.

frequently asked Questions

Why do I have to carry out the vitality test in several places?

So that you know how far to cut back the oleander. Leaves and thin branches are quickly affected by frost, while thicker branches may well have been spared. With the test you don't cut off too much unnecessarily.

Is it bad if I accidentally cut off too much of a healthy shoot?

In principle, that's not a bad thing. However, it may take longer for the shoot to regenerate. During this time you will have to do without flowers.

Can I cut back frozen oleander every year?

Theoretically yes. However, if you have to cut back your oleander every year as a result of frost damage, the tree will only very rarely flower. In addition, the plant will die in the long run despite the pruning. Be sure to protect it from frost.

Category:

Garden plants