Acanthus Mollis
Afternoon all,
I have an established acanthus at the end of the garden. It flowered for months last year and looked great. The thing is, it is part of a flower bed and I'd planned to try and plant some wildflowers in front of it, and those huge leaves left everything else in shadow. They had also been eaten into by something or other, so I thought I'd cut them off in the hope of encouraging the new leaves below to grow, and giving everything else a bit of room over summer.
The thing is, I'm new to gardening and get a bit over-excited when armed with secateurs, so now it's left with only the young, small leaves. I've read that it's practically impossible to kill if you don't want it - but I do and I'm worried that my excessive pruning might have left it too little to work with?
Thanks in advance for any advice you have,
Remorseful of Essex
Posts
Thank you! I am enjoying it, I've just moved in and have never had a garden to look after before. In all honesty, I didn't think I'd enjoy it but am surprised at how fun it is! Now if only I can keep my urge to prune in check...
I'll keep an eye on the acanthus - would hate to think I'd killed it but am relieved to hear it's not likely!
We lived in our current home for 5 years before an acanthus began to grow. As we had not planted it we were quite intrigued. We then realised that the previous owners had dug up the parent plant and taken it with them....then the new one appeared after a few years! So, yes it is quite hard to kill them off!
aym280 and Grannybee; you weren't wrong! It's back with a vengeance!
Not that I'm complaining. The one in the front garden has also self-seeded. I can see myself getting lost in all the big leaves if I'm not careful!