Back again for another round of Brug Questions :)

13 years ago

Hey everyone, glad it's warming up outside. I'm freaking out already. LOL.... Anyway, I planted three brugs in the ground last year. Maybe you remember me, They grew like crazy, but only few blooms. Either the heat did it or I did it with to much nitrogen, making them grow like crazy but producing few blooms.

Last fall I cut them back, mulched really well and left them alone. Didn't even water them at all. Reason being is we had so much rain all winter that I felt they would be okay.

However, we had three separate instances of snow/ice :( The first was a hard freeze, ice covered the streets, not snow, ICE! So therefore the ice just sat on top of the mulch for about three days. I did break through it around my brugs and remove much of it on day one. The other two times it was snow, so they went through a hard winter in my opinion.

My concern is this, its starting to warm up now so I decided to remove some of the mulch around the stumps. I dug down through the mulch just til I reached the soil and kind of spread it away from the stump about 4-6 inches away from the stump, leaving a very small thin layer of mulch around the stump area.

I felt around the stump just to see what the wood felt like and on one it was mushy, my finger went right through it :( :( :( Worries already :(

I mean it rained a lot, underneath the mulch was very wet/damn, maybe I put to much mulch, but when it rained it poured, and thats why i never watered at all, but does this mushiness mean my brug wont come back. Couldn't there still be roots attached to that mushiness that are in good condition and it will come back from those?

I checked two others, and didnt dig down to far to feel. I was afraid to see the same thing on the other two. I did check one of the bigger roots on one and it wasn't mushy. Advise me please, what should I expect? And what should I be doing at this point with temps during the day hitting the 70-75's? Whats a good sign from the stump that they'll come back? What can I check? LOL Anything.

Comments (5)

karyn1
13 years ago
I wouldn't worry yet. The soggy cold soil might have been a problem but you won't know for a while. I wouldn't expect to see new growth until you have consistantly warm daytime temps that are sufficient to warm the soil. Make sure that the ground around them is clear of weeds and you already cleared most of the old damp mulch. Now you get to wait. You can dig some compost into the soil maybe mix in a bit of slow release fertilizer but be careful not to damage the roots. Good luck.
rock_oak_deer
13 years ago
The brug I planted out last summer is just now sprouting. The sprouts are way down the trunk below ground level almost to the roots so if your roots are good you could still get it to grow back. It was under 6" mulch, we had two days of cold rain then three days below freezing and one day of snow after a warmer than normal stretch of weather so everything was hit hard.

Good luck, I hope it grows back for you.
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lovetogrowflowers
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you both so much for your advice. I just put so much work into them last year and had a beautiful plant with few blooms. This year I want to try and treat them even better than last year hoping for more blooms.

Just getting excited and nervous all at the same time. I so hope they come back. I do have cuttings that have rooted well (bucket of brugs), but really wanted to not have to fool with to much planting and starting completely over.

Thanks again for all the advice you gave. It is always much appreciated.
Patsey Nelson
13 years ago
I think the hardest thing is to wait and give them plenty of time to come up on their own. Good Luck.
I would sure like to see you try one exactly like you did last year except when they get all their leaves on them, quit your fertilizer all together and give them a straight potassium fertilizer. I think you would have the best of both then. Anyway, hope they all come up. Mine were all in pots last year and I kept them in my sunroom all winter. One Rosemond bloomed in Feburary. I can't wait to get mine planted this year in the ground.
Patsey
kasha77
13 years ago
The ground has to warm up- even though the air temps may feel pretty good. I had so many planted in ground and the winter was bitter cold here in North Carolina - 11* some days. I dug up quite a few this spring and their roots are plump and white. So don't give up hope! One even has a few shoots peeking up!
Patience! :)
kasha77