THANK YOU! Finally, a really superb video on prune this fabulous plant! I've been vacillating on the exact methodology, but with your help, I now know what to do with my Russian Sage! Thanks, Catherine!
Thank you. You have saved my Russian sage plants. I was very close to taking them all out and my wife is much closer to taking them all out. I will convince her that we can make them look a lot better if we prune them like this.
@@karens.denson7902 I pruned mine and they looked great last year and they are looking amazing this year. The bees love them to death. I'm so glad I kept them.
Thanks for this helpful video. It's a great plant for a small garden I have landscaped here in England that is focussed on mainly roses and salvias. Plant labelling tends to be a rather crude affair and they said "cut to ground level". On a brand new plant, I think that's rather harsh - and better to remove two thirds before it's established. I have taken some leafy stems off - and may use those for cuttings? I did get some salvia cuttings going over winter - so let's see?
Thank you. I have a new Russian Sage that I bought and planted last year. They are both quite small and thin now and I would like them to spread out a little. Will either of these methods work better or are they both about the same?
THANK YOU!!! I transplanted some Russian Sage in my front yard at the middle of April. However I did not know how to care for this beautiful plant. This information was awesome. I hope it comes back . Right now it looks like the stems you just removed 😄 What type of fertilizer do I need to help my plants revive. Thank you for your help.
I planted some Perpvskia Rusian Sage about 20 years. They have since spread to about 50 X 10 feet, to much to prune by hand. About every two years I cut them back using a chain saw in February. Withing a couple months they are beautify and back up to 3 or 5 feet. They have not been watered in over 5 years. This is in the desert with many days in 90 to 115 temperatures and in the full sun. The more they are ignored the better they look.
I have a row of 20 Russian sage & they’re very overgrown. I’d like to use a power brush trimmer to prune them to the ground, but they started leafing out a week ago. Is it still ok to do a hard pruning? I’m assuming they’ll still leaf out fine, being early spring?
Without any knowledge about anything, in Nov I’ve always cut mine down to around 8”. And it comes back/grows even more. Great video and explanations. Will look to see if you have a video re moving and replanting a partial plant elsewhere. Years ago, after pruning, I just cut what was left in half, in hopes of making the spread smaller. It did for a year, and now it’s uncontrollable. Since this attracts so many bees, I want to move some nea4 my garden and fruit trees.
Okay so I'm from Texas and this year we did not drop down in temp very much so needless to say My Russian sage already has blooms but I have a couple of dead parts should I prune back the whole bush or just the ones with no growth?
Vanessa - I would prune out all the dead wood for sure... It's dead...The plant makes new wood stems every year... If you want to prune the Sage down even to ground level, it will not hurt it...l cut mine all the way down to ground level every year and they look lovely when they grow back up...
Thank you, that was very straightforward to follow! I’ve had Russian Sage years ago and trimmed it back and it flowered happily year after year. Now I live in northern Portugal I planted one the year before last....and it grew like a weed this year! About four feet or so across and about 3 feet high, looks silvery and wonderful..but not a single flower! I’m not sure how to treat it, bar clipping it back in winter again and hoping it flowers next year! Have you any ideas as to what I might try eg fertiliser, etc? Thank you! ❤️
Susan Miller - I know it's been 2 years, but I just saw your post tonight... Does your Russian Sage get full sun all day long, like it would if facing due South??? If it were mine, and it received a lot of sunlight every day, I would cut it down to ground , feed it some type of fertilizer that has more phosphorus and potash and less nitrogen, and feed it, after cutting it back, so you can see all around it better... I have several facing South, in NorCal and they flower all growing season like crazy and the honey bees love them... My only challenge with this plant is that the stalks get high very quickly, make a lot of flowers, and then get too top heavy, and they start to droop down...I am going to find a good fertilizer perhaps one that says for "more flowers", etc., and hopefully, will get enough fertilizer to help strengthen the stems better so they won't get too top heavy and start going down... These are new Sages, only perhaps a couple years old... Good luck with your project ! Fran Danco
@@frandanco6289 It faces SW but also gets a little shade depending on the time of day. Last year was hot as heck - 122°F/50C! I think it succumbed…as many plants did 😢 I had cut it back but I must tell you that Russian Sage will never stand up straight no matter how you feed it! It’s always top heavy, similar to some of my lavenders! You’ll need some early planning with canes and twine to keep it up! I love it…so hopefully this spring I’ll buy a new one! Thank you so much for answering me after all this time!
Esther - prune them in winter when they are done and all their leaves are gone or going... Depending on Where you live in CA, you may not ever really have a "winter" too, so perhaps look at them say in Dec-January, Feb., and see if they have gone to sleep, and go do the work...I always take mine all the way down and they give me new wood growth all year that looks better than old, thicker, woody growth... As an aside, I prune Roses all the way to the ground also, and always, always, am rewarded with a lot new, straight, growth, full of roses all summer long, into fall... And I feed them with Bayer Rose Food too... :) Good luck with your project ! Fran Danco
I neglected to cut back our Russian sage early this spring, while it was still woody and dry. It sprung back with both new growth from the crown as well as on some of the branches but unfortunately is not in the ideal rounded shape, but is jutting out in bizarre directions. I imagine I should just let it do its thing this year and then cut completely back next spring. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?
That's a good approach, although it's a pretty resilient plant. You could certainly prune it for shape during the growing season as well if some of the branches look unsightly to you. Good luck with your plants!
Hi, I just purchased a Russian Sage about a month ago. It had the purple flowers and looked very pretty. After planting it, the flowers went away and the bottom leaves stayed green. Some leaves turned yellow and fell off, but I still have green leaves. Should I prune up to the leaves, or should I leave as is? Please help.
Well, it's normal for Russian sage to go out of bloom after a couple of weeks, but most of what you describe sounds like normal transplanting stress. if the leaves are still green (or silver) that's a good sign. I would remove any leaves that turn fully brown, but leave any that are still alive. Make sure you're watering enough but not too much.
@@joeaguirre3069 -Look at the plant/s and see if they are dry.... If they are, water them... If you look out and the leaves are drooping, it needs water... Water it... Plants need water to photosynthesize through their leaves and help them make food and flowers, leaves, etc., so they need a drink whenever they get dry, like everything else..... You go this.. :)
Question! My russian sage is very spread out - not as nice and clustered together as in the video. How can I encourage them to clump together rather than spread out into shoots?
I have the same problem. Growing in central Florida, no shade and very little water and my shrub was green all winter. Do I trim the green back to get flowers? This year will be the second year of growth. Would also like to know how to propagate?
What temps are you having in Winter??? Mine seem to survive down to the 40's at night in Northern CA, but I will still cut them all down to ground level when I see them start to go to sleep... If they don't ever do this for you, perhaps in Dec-Jan-Feb when most things have gone to sleep, do it then... You can really do it anytime, but to have it start over with all new, fresh growth, wait until before Spring and choose which method you want to do - down to fresh growth, or down to to ground level... Good luck with this ! Fran Danco
@@frandanco6289 Thanks. Mine are getting too heavy and falling down all the time so I have to help them. They certainly don't look like these firm ones. We can have 20F temps but also 30F or 40F. Will try next time.
My Russian sage isn't as thinned out as yours, so I use long shears and cut back to a foot off the ground. I'm in NWArkansas, which I believe is zone 6. I'd like to see how your sage looks in full bloom.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Where I live we're about zone 5. Russian sage can get quite big and beautiful here, but the plants in the video were planted quite a while ago.
Deana Margarita -- Great ! I cut all of mine down to the ground every year and they always come back up, fresh, full of new flowers, new wood, and the honeybees love them...
Anyone else blown away by the smell of these!? I'm gonna cover the whole outside of my house in this!
THANK YOU! Finally, a really superb video on prune this fabulous plant! I've been vacillating on the exact methodology, but with your help, I now know what to do with my Russian Sage! Thanks, Catherine!
I agree...Very clear and to the point unlike other videos regarding Russian Sage...
I followed the tips in this video late winter and now my Russian sage is the best looking on the block! Thank you. It has never looked THIS good.
Thank you. You have saved my Russian sage plants. I was very close to taking them all out and my wife is much closer to taking them all out. I will convince her that we can make them look a lot better if we prune them like this.
Thank you..🤗. I needed this advice...I thot they were dead...I'll wait and see...we live in Colorado.
@@karens.denson7902 I pruned mine and they looked great last year and they are looking amazing this year. The bees love them to death. I'm so glad I kept them.
Super helpful!!! Thank you. I never understood how to prune Russian Sage.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you! Easy to see methods.
Thanks for this helpful video. It's a great plant for a small garden I have landscaped here in England that is focussed on mainly roses and salvias. Plant labelling tends to be a rather crude affair and they said "cut to ground level". On a brand new plant, I think that's rather harsh - and better to remove two thirds before it's established. I have taken some leafy stems off - and may use those for cuttings? I did get some salvia cuttings going over winter - so let's see?
Well that was easy to understand, thank you!
Thank you! So many plants have different pruning methods and this was very easy to understand.
Thank you. I have a new Russian Sage that I bought and planted last year. They are both quite small and thin now and I would like them to spread out a little. Will either of these methods work better or are they both about the same?
THANK YOU!!! I transplanted some Russian Sage in my front yard at the middle of April. However I did not know how to care for this beautiful plant. This information was awesome. I hope it comes back . Right now it looks like the stems you just removed 😄 What type of fertilizer do I need to help my plants revive. Thank you for your help.
I planted some Perpvskia Rusian Sage about 20 years. They have since spread to about 50 X 10 feet, to much to prune by hand. About every two years I cut them back using a chain saw in February. Withing a couple months they are beautify and back up to 3 or 5 feet. They have not been watered in over 5 years. This is in the desert with many days in 90 to 115 temperatures and in the full sun. The more they are ignored the better they look.
I have a row of 20 Russian sage & they’re very overgrown. I’d like to use a power brush trimmer to prune them to the ground, but they started leafing out a week ago. Is it still ok to do a hard pruning? I’m assuming they’ll still leaf out fine, being early spring?
Thank you for your great tips.
Great video! Very well explained. I can't wait to get some russian sage now that I know how to keep it going year after year. Thanks.
I have a russian sage in a pot-container. And am not sure what to do for winter? Some say to water well and cover with mulch to hold in the moisture.
Without any knowledge about anything, in Nov I’ve always cut mine down to around 8”. And it comes back/grows even more. Great video and explanations. Will look to see if you have a video re moving and replanting a partial plant elsewhere. Years ago, after pruning, I just cut what was left in half, in hopes of making the spread smaller. It did for a year, and now it’s uncontrollable. Since this attracts so many bees, I want to move some nea4 my garden and fruit trees.
Thanks for this video.
Very informative. Thank you!
Excellent video. Everything is made very clear and easy to understand. Thank you!
+John Briick Thanks very much, John. I appreciate your comment!
+Catherine Moravec No problem! I look forward to viewing more of your videos, and will recommend to my other gardening friends...Happy Spring
Appreciate the tips! First time trying to grow these in Wheat Ridge
Can I cut them in November?
Also mine became so big about a yard and half horizontally, how can I reduce the size without damaging it?
Okay so I'm from Texas and this year we did not drop down in temp very much so needless to say My Russian sage already has blooms but I have a couple of dead parts should I prune back the whole bush or just the ones with no growth?
Vanessa - I would prune out all the dead wood for sure... It's dead...The plant makes new wood stems every year... If you want to prune the Sage down even to ground level, it will not hurt it...l cut mine all the way down to ground level every year and they look lovely when they grow back up...
excellent video thank you!
Great video!! Thank you!
Than you, very well done video,professional quality; answered all my questions on your 2 part video.
Congrats
Thanks very much. Glad it was helpful!
Thank you! I’m gonna trim my right now
Great to hear!
Thank you! This answered all our questions :-)
Clear and concise, thanks!
Thank you, that was very straightforward to follow! I’ve had Russian Sage years ago and trimmed it back and it flowered happily year after year. Now I live in northern Portugal I planted one the year before last....and it grew like a weed this year! About four feet or so across and about 3 feet high, looks silvery and wonderful..but not a single flower! I’m not sure how to treat it, bar clipping it back in winter again and hoping it flowers next year! Have you any ideas as to what I might try eg fertiliser, etc? Thank you! ❤️
Susan Miller - I know it's been 2 years, but I just saw your post tonight... Does your Russian Sage get full sun all day long, like it would if facing due South??? If it were mine, and it received a lot of sunlight every day, I would cut it down to ground , feed it some type of fertilizer that has more phosphorus and potash and less nitrogen, and feed it, after cutting it back, so you can see all around it better... I have several facing South, in NorCal and they flower all growing season like crazy and the honey bees love them... My only challenge with this plant is that the stalks get high very quickly, make a lot of flowers, and then get too top heavy, and they start to droop down...I am going to find a good fertilizer perhaps one that says for "more flowers", etc., and hopefully, will get enough fertilizer to help strengthen the stems better so they won't get too top heavy and start going down... These are new Sages, only perhaps a couple years old... Good luck with your project ! Fran Danco
@@frandanco6289 It faces SW but also gets a little shade depending on the time of day. Last year was hot as heck - 122°F/50C! I think it succumbed…as many plants did 😢 I had cut it back but I must tell you that Russian Sage will never stand up straight no matter how you feed it! It’s always top heavy, similar to some of my lavenders! You’ll need some early planning with canes and twine to keep it up! I love it…so hopefully this spring I’ll buy a new one! Thank you so much for answering me after all this time!
Never fertilize Russian Sage.
Nice demo. Thank you.
I live in California. My sage has woody stems and little white puffs on the stems. When is it a good time to prune?
Esther - prune them in winter when they are done and all their leaves are gone or going... Depending on Where you live in CA, you may not ever really have a "winter" too, so perhaps look at them say in Dec-January, Feb., and see if they have gone to sleep, and go do the work...I always take mine all the way down and they give me new wood growth all year that looks better than old, thicker, woody growth... As an aside, I prune Roses all the way to the ground also, and always, always, am rewarded with a lot new, straight, growth, full of roses all summer long, into fall... And I feed them with Bayer Rose Food too... :) Good luck with your project ! Fran Danco
I neglected to cut back our Russian sage early this spring, while it was still woody and dry. It sprung back with both new growth from the crown as well as on some of the branches but unfortunately is not in the ideal rounded shape, but is jutting out in bizarre directions. I imagine I should just let it do its thing this year and then cut completely back next spring. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?
That's a good approach, although it's a pretty resilient plant. You could certainly prune it for shape during the growing season as well if some of the branches look unsightly to you. Good luck with your plants!
Thanks for sharing.
so glad to know what to do finally!!
Thank you so much for your videos!
Hi, I just purchased a Russian Sage about a month ago. It had the purple flowers and looked very pretty. After planting it, the flowers went away and the bottom leaves stayed green. Some leaves turned yellow and fell off, but I still have green leaves. Should I prune up to the leaves, or should I leave as is? Please help.
Well, it's normal for Russian sage to go out of bloom after a couple of weeks, but most of what you describe sounds like normal transplanting stress. if the leaves are still green (or silver) that's a good sign. I would remove any leaves that turn fully brown, but leave any that are still alive. Make sure you're watering enough but not too much.
Thanks for the advice. How much is enough water? Right now I’m watering it daily. I’m in Texas and the heat is in the triple digits.
@@joeaguirre3069 -Look at the plant/s and see if they are dry.... If they are, water them... If you look out and the leaves are drooping, it needs water... Water it... Plants need water to photosynthesize through their leaves and help them make food and flowers, leaves, etc., so they need a drink whenever they get dry, like everything else..... You go this.. :)
Morning can I divide my denim Russian Sage after one year in ground? Thank you
Great! Thanks for the explanation. Too much water versus not enough sun!
short and sweet, nice job
Great clear explanation
THANKYOU!!
Can you use these methods on Little Spire Russian Sage also?
Yes you can..
I have seen this plant and it should sometimes be called -- "Not So Little Spire, Russian Sage".... :)
Question! My russian sage is very spread out - not as nice and clustered together as in the video. How can I encourage them to clump together rather than spread out into shoots?
I have the same problem. Growing in central Florida, no shade and very little water and my shrub was green all winter. Do I trim the green back to get flowers? This year will be the second year of growth. Would also like to know how to propagate?
I just cut the whole thing to the ground. It is fast, easy and I think it is tidier. It is all new growth all the way to the ground.
It is winter here but my Russian Sage is not looking like this but still alive. How should I cut it?
What temps are you having in Winter??? Mine seem to survive down to the 40's at night in Northern CA, but I will still cut them all down to ground level when I see them start to go to sleep... If they don't ever do this for you, perhaps in Dec-Jan-Feb when most things have gone to sleep, do it then... You can really do it anytime, but to have it start over with all new, fresh growth, wait until before Spring and choose which method you want to do - down to fresh growth, or down to to ground level... Good luck with this ! Fran Danco
@@frandanco6289 Thanks. Mine are getting too heavy and falling down all the time so I have to help them. They certainly don't look like these firm ones. We can have 20F temps but also 30F or 40F. Will try next time.
My Russian sage isn't as thinned out as yours, so I use long shears and cut back to a foot off the ground. I'm in NWArkansas, which I believe is zone 6. I'd like to see how your sage looks in full bloom.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Where I live we're about zone 5. Russian sage can get quite big and beautiful here, but the plants in the video were planted quite a while ago.
Thanks
From California hot weather not much rain, how do I water my sage ?
Once a week in the summer. I live in the Pomana Valley and we have very warm summers. Our plant has done so well and it grows very large.
I have not watered my Russian Sage in 5 years and we are in the desert. They are beautiful
👍👍
It’s never too late to cut dead wood. I have mine pruned and waiting for the bees to arrive.
👌
So I cut mine all the way down.
:(
Deana Margarita -- Great ! I cut all of mine down to the ground every year and they always come back up, fresh, full of new flowers, new wood, and the honeybees love them...
🌹🌹🌹🌹👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I’m not that bold 😮