Callistemon Citrinus Splendens in trouble

Surrey, United Kingdom

I was given a callistemum citrinus in a large pot, pruned to a standard shape, by my late partner for valentine's day last year. Unfortunately the snow and frost virtually killed it, despite protecting it with a fleece. Now it is sprouting from the base and I am left with the dead stem in the middle which looks ridiculous. I have pruned the top back more and more in the hope that it would start to sprout, but no luck. If I cut the stem right down it will look ugly and I don't know whether to leave the sproutings to form a bushy plant or try to trim all except one, to try to get a standard shape again. The plant obviously is of sentimental value to me, so I don't want to lose it. Any thoughts please?

27 Jul, 2009

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Answers

Bren

Scratch the stem and if it is brown that part is dead,so then you can cut the whole stem off and allow it to grow again from the base.
I have quite a few different Callistemons and they go into the greenhouse under fleece as well cos they are not really hardy at all in the uk

27 Jul, 2009

Bamboo

You have no choice but to remove the standard stem - is the growth coming from the bottom the same type of growth that was on the top, in other words, do the leaves look the same? If they do, cut off the dead, leave the plant to grow and you'll have a nice bottlebrush shrub next year which you will be able to reshape as it grows, though probably not into a standard.

27 Jul, 2009

Felicity48

Thanks Bren & Bamboo for your comments on the Callistemon Citrinus.
The leaves on the new sprouts at the base are similar to the original. They are certainly coming from the plant. I'll cut the central stem down and hope that when the stems increase and lengthen the stump will not show.

27 Jul, 2009

How do I say thanks?

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