First Aid for Weigela

(Question)

My 3 weigela bushes (about 5 years old) have very dry branches on 2/3 of the plan. Only one side has leaves and flowers. Is it dead? If not, what can I do to bring them back to the beautiful resplendent plants they use to be?

(Answer)

Hello and thank you for contacting Toronto Master Gardeners.

Wiegela is an old-fashioned shrub that likes a sunny well-drained site and moist soil while getting established. Once established, it is quite drought tolerant and shouldn’t need supplemental watering unless the weather has been exceptionally hot and dry.

If your plants still have green leaves and flowers then that part at least is still alive. I believe your shrubs can be rehabilitated, but it will take a few years. All the branches that are dead can be pruned at the base. I think you can assume that any branches without leaves at this point in the season are dead. If any of the shrubs have no leaves at all, you can dig them out. At this point the shrubs will not look very good as you will be pruning a lot of dead wood off. They will look somewhat misshapen for the rest of this season. For what shrub remains, fertilize once a month with a regular balanced plant food and water well this season. When the shrub has finished blooming, trim the longest branches back by 1/3 to encourage more vegetative growth over the summer. This will lead to more blooms next year as Weigela blooms on old wood (growth that occurs the previous season). Continue to follow this plan for a few years and hopefully your shrubs will revive.

Here is a link with good information about Weigela care:

https://www.gardendesign.com/shrubs/weigela.html

and a link to another TMG answer about pruning Weigela:

https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/weigela-looking-sad/ ‎