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Minnesota Gardening

Russian Sage problem....

18 years ago

I have had two Russian Sage plants for the past couple of years, & they do really well except for around the end of July they get all "leggy" and sprawl all over everything else in the garden.

Is this typical of this plant? If so, I may remove it and get something that is better behaved!

Linda

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Comments (5)

karenn3
18 years ago
I believe this is typical, especially if not grown in full sun. Some people, me included, cut them down to live nodes, about 8-12'' from ground in the spring. This helps, as does putting sturdier plants in front of them. There are newer varieties, like "Longin" which are a tad shorter and have stiffer stems. I'm not totally sure this is always true. good luck, Karen
sallym
18 years ago
Linda,
Try more sun first. I cut mine down in the spring like Karen does, too.
Sally
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doucanoe
Original Author
18 years ago
These are both in full sun, and I cut them down to about 6 inches this spring. I think I will replace them with something else. Don't like that "bad hair day" look!

LOL

Linda
tradewind_64
18 years ago
Linda, I have three Russian Sage plants that like to sprawl in summer. I cut them in half in July and they came right back tall with flowers but are much more upright.
Nettie
18 years ago
I've read that having lean soil(no pun intended)is supposed to help but haven't tried it myself. I just wanted to note that this is one of those plants that layer really well. Mine lean into the soil and the branches that touch the ground often root and grow new plants.

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