This has been a bad Monday. Came home to a hail storm and all my cannas are shredded up. Should I cut them down to the ground and let them grow or leave them in the sad shape they are? All were 2 and 3 feet tall.
Hail Storm
I had that happen 2 weeks ago. Mine looked like ferns or palms... I did not cut them down and now I wish I had because the new leaves are coming up and they are beautiful but those ugly shredded ones distract from them. I am going to have to trim the shredded ones away carefully now without damaging the new ones. I understand how you feel. It is sooo sad and upsetting to see those beautiful leaves shredded like that. If I had it to do over again, I would trim the shredded ones away from the main stem so the new ones can still come up from the center.
Tammie
Yep that is what I was thinking also. I may hate cannas by the time I get done with those haircuts on them. I have over 100 of them scattered about. LOL Just gotta love Spring in Texas. I was just wondering if I cut off the leaves if they will be naked on the bottom or will they fill out again? Should I just wack them down to the ground and start over?
they may be a little naked at the bottom but if you wack them down, the entire stalk may not be able to come back enough to bloom. At least that is what happened to me when I cut some back. There are healthy good leaves already up in those stalks ready to emerge. You can leave some of the ragged ones to help give some fullness to the lower areas. I was lucky that mine were under 2 ft tall when the hail got them. The new leaves emerging look great.
Tammie
I would just cut off the unsightly damage and not cut off any more than it needs.
Thanks for the info. I have been giving haircuts to them and my back is killing me! Darn weeds are keeping me busy enough. We need this rain but I can live without 60 mph winds and hail. My poor lilies in the pond look like someone took a machine gun to them. That should be fun trying to trim them off.
I just left my lilies and am letting the new leaves grow. The damaged leaves mostly survived... only a few have died but those that survived are quickly being outnumbered by the new ones coming up.
Tammie