How do I restore a Gardenia bush?
We have two gardenia bushes planted in the back of the house, right below our kitchen windows facing East. (We are in the north Atlanta area).
The gardenia bushes were there 7 years ago when we moved into the house.
They looked very nice then, with beautiful, swirly white flowers when in bloom.
Unfortunately, we have not known much about gardening until very recently and had virtually no time to do anything in the garden other than keep the lawn cut and blow leaves; so they've gone down under our watch (or lack of watching, more precisely).
I just let them do their thing.
I never watered, fertilized or pruned them - it's been between them and Mother Nature and they've been fending for themselves for 7 years now (Yeap, we've been THAT bad).
Over time, they bloomed less and less until this pasts year when they stopped altogether; they got tall and spindly and many leaves became yellow or browned, as you can see in these pictures.
[This is the part where you say "duh!".]
As I recently decided to restore the beautiful garden the previous owner left us - I would really love to be able to bring these lovely gardenias back to their original glory.
They get morning and midday sun - and when the sun moves on the other side of the house they are in shade. I suppose this is good given the hot afternoon sun in the South.
Briefly, what should I do?
Flying by the seat of my pants, I am thinking to remove some of those extra blown leaves in the bed that may have piled too much mulching over time; then prune, amend soil with some soil conditioner and cow manure and fertilize; also water regularly over the summer. Am I remotely close to a decent start with this plan?
Any advice is highly appreciated!
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