creeping jenny (lysimachia) post-defoliation recovery

10 years ago

My Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia Nummularia) got decimated by sawflies this spring. I did not realize what was happening until too late.

I have read that this plant usually recovers, but I haven't seen any sign of recovery yet. Does anyone have any ideas as to things I can do to speed the recovery process along? I.e., fertilization, irrigation, etc.

I have attached a picture of what it looks like now. The white stuff is the diatomaceous earth I used to kill the sawflies.

Thanks...!

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Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
nice well spaced bed ...

only time will tell.. if it recovers ...

but you would probably be the first to actually kill it.. w/o trying.. lol ...

it looks.. at about 3 o'clock .. like there is a patch which is still alive... if so.. i bet a nickle.. you could propagate it faster than you might believe.. and have a hundred plants in a month or so .... google: lysimachia propagation .... just like i would if i were to link you direct ...

good luck

ken
wildflower3
10 years ago
I almost would ask you to send a few of the sawflies in my direction IF they would promise to kill only the creeping jenny ;) It is beautiful underneath my roses, clematis and tree peonies but it does not play nicely and is trying cross the paths into other beds. My bet is that it will rebound nicely without any extra care.
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dowlinggram
10 years ago
Nothing grows faster than Creeping jenny. I pull it out by the handfuls in spring to try to keep it in check and still have to do more during the summer to try to control it. I never fertilize it or give it any care

It looks like there are still spots of it alive, I'd Give it a bit of fertilizer and water and stand back and watch it grow. IF the roots are still alive it may send out new growth
alexavd
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks to everyone for their comments, the encouragement, and for the compliment! :-)

Yeah I've had creeping jenny for several years, and I know how fast it grows. I just wasn't sure if it had been killed past the point of it recovering, without me having to re-establish it with plugs. Would prefer not to have to do that. Y'know, at what point does a plant become so defoliated that it cannot recover --- I know it varies for each plant, and creeping jenny being so robust is probably pretty tough. I was just hoping that a) it would come back, and b) it would come back fast, without me having to wait the whole season.

I'd be happy to send sawflies your way... :-) All I do to control my creeping jenny is to hand-pull it from around the bases of the plants in spring, and then when I mow along where the grass meets the bed, it gets a lot of it. If it starts going into the grass too far I just spray a little Round Up between the bed and the lawn, and that will keep it contained all season. I don't mind doing that too much because when it's established it chokes out the weeds pretty well, and I don't have to mulch the bed every year.

We have had a lot of rain in the last day or two, and it seems to be responding to that. I'm seeing new growths at the ends, but not as much along the stems yet. But at least now there is new growth, which means they aren't going to just keel over.

For all its aggressiveness, creeping jenny does make a nice background in a bed. My neighbors all ooh and ahh over how great the bed looks. Haven't heard much of that lately, so I'm guessing it's because the creeping jenny isn't looking so great.

Thanks again!

creeping jenny (lysimachia) post-defoliation recovery

Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

wildflower3

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creeping jenny (lysimachia) post-defoliation recovery

Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

wildflower3

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dowlinggram

alexavdOriginal Author

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