What plant is this and what is wrong with it?

MSaxp

Hi knowledgeable people.

We have a very nice shrub in our garden, that i want to buy more of, but also seems to be suffering from something.

https://imgur.com/a/G0WREHf

Do you know what it is? some type of box?

Its also gone brown in places and i dont know why. We never really watered it and has always been fine, but maybe last summer was a bit too dry for its liking? should i cut the brown parts or just let it grown over them?

https://imgur.com/a/2ZWzqb7


thank you for reading.

JulieM

Looks like some sort of Hebe to me. Lots of varieties so you would need to Google it.

MSaxp

thats excellent thank you.

It seems to be a Hebe pinguifolia 'Pagei'

Justagardener

You might be lucky...you can often cut them right Back to about 6" off the ground and it might regrow.
Although they don't mind dry conditions they do suffer from drought as the rain can't get in through the foliage... If there are small green shoots near the base you're in with achance chance.

Davesnave

I agree with Justagardener, but unlike Dr Who's regeneration, that in hebes can be slow.



I cut a pageii back to 6" and it was a couple of years before it began to look half-decent again.

bella_m

When you cut back a Hebe always leave some green. If you cut too deep it will be brown and won't grow back.

Katiehound

I'm pretty sure I had one like this- pruned it violently and.. it expired! It had small white flowers
I'd be inclined to cut out the dead foliage and leave the rest, or just prune half and see what happens.
As an insurance policy you could take cuttings now - I have more success with evergreen cuttings than the usual summer ones.
If the bush lives and the cuttings take then you can give them away!

[Deleted User]

I also agree with the Hebe identification.


The small leaved varieties are often lower growing ones, mostly fairly tough and resilient.


In dry spring and summer months it would preserve life by shedding some leaves, as a lot of common garden shrubs will, to see if there's still life in a plant, when to the eye might look dead, try this:


Gently scratch/scrape an area of stem with your fingernail and it will reveal a fresh green colour, this shows it's dormant, not dead.


From here you could choose to leave it alone and let if return to life at its own speed or, you could gently prune it at the top end of that stem.