By Sjw
gloucestershire,
United Kingdom 
After the very cold January, the leaves of my pittosporum have all dropped of, do you think this shrub has had it, or will they regrow in the Spring. My euphorbia took quite a battering as well, will this regrow like a perrenial this Spring.
9 Feb, 2010
Answers
Thanks for your reply Louise1, the pittosporum is about 8 years old, last year was quite cold but no problems, there are several around the garden, most have dropped their leaves as have quite a lot of the other evergreen shrubs. I will have to wait and see what the Spring brings.
9 Feb, 2010
Am i right in thinking that the Pittosporums aren't long lived ..... ?
I could be imagining that Sjw .... let's see what others think.
These past 2 winters have been cold though so it could just be them objecting to the lower than usual temperatures here .... do the scratch test and see what's underneath the bark though ..... they're probably just waiting for the warmth ;-)
Mine haven't lost their leaves so it could just be the cold there, i have loads of Pittosporums here .... i love them !!!
9 Feb, 2010
about three years ago my pittosporum dropped all it leaves. it looked dead...but then it started regrowing low down...i think i cut it back to the fresh growth in the summer...its now lovely again...
9 Feb, 2010
Does it maintain it's columnar shape when it's been cut back Sandra ?
10 Feb, 2010
Some hope for their recovery then, Louise you say yours are columnar, none of mine are they are all about 4ft high and the same in width.
10 Feb, 2010
Really ?
All mine have that columnar shape and one of the back garden ones and all of the front hedge ones i snip, at times, to keep that shape a bit more exaggerated ..... to let more light to plants underneath them.
10 Feb, 2010
its just the way you grow them. mine pittosporum is clipped with a two foot stem now...but today i saw lots of them growong in a park all different colours and up to about twenty feet tall and wide...
10 Feb, 2010
Is the Pittosporum recently planted Sjw ?
If so, i'd imagine it's still settling down and will start to have new growth when the temps rise a bit.
If it's not though maybe it's position's a bit too exposed and it's lost them as a deciduous tree would, again it'll regrow soon.
The Euphorbia will sprout new growth too soon, my E mellifera looks very limp but it's not dead .... as soon as the temps rise a bit you'll see life there !
What you 'can' do with the plants though is, with your nail - scrape a bit of the stem and if you can see green underneath the plant's still alive !
9 Feb, 2010