Good Night Forsythia My neighbor's garage caught fire during the night
By Bathgate
New York,
United States 
Good Night Forsythia
My neighbor's garage caught fire during the night. The fire reached over and damaged several of my plantings including my cherished forsythia which is over 50 years old; older then me. It happened two nights ago.
Please consider my fire ravaged forsythia in the photos. Is she a goner or will she somehow recover? Will she ever display her sunny yellow blooms again?
1) Should I cut her down and find a replacement?
2) Is she a goner or can she somehow recover?
3) Is there anything I can do to help her rebound?
Bravo to the FDNY for promptly extinguishing this fire in the middle of the night without anybody getting hurt.
Thank you everybody for your comments and suggestions. I will consider them very carefully.
Regards,
Paul
Thank you everybody for your excellent advice. I've done exactly what you said and my Forsythia is on the road to recovery. You saved it! Thank You :)
15 Sep, 2014
Answers
Hi, sorry to hear this, but all is not lost, Forsythia are pretty tough, just cut back to somewhere there is no fire damage, you won't get any flowersnext spring, but you will the year after, Derek.
15 Sep, 2014
Agree with Derek, except - I'd leave the cutting back till spring - your winters, if I'm not mistaken, are reliably cold, and any new growth forced by cutting back hard now may not have time to harden off before winter sets in. You might find new growth starting anyway, but at least if all the dead stems and foliage are still in place, they will afford some protection from the cold. that's assuming you can stand looking at it the way it is now for another 6 months...
15 Sep, 2014
I would also leave it alone for now. It could just be that this years leaves are badly scorched and new ones will grow in the spring. You can cut any dead material out next year.
15 Sep, 2014
It might look a sorry sight now but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised next year....
15 Sep, 2014
They are resilient shrubs so it should re-grow.
I hope no people, animals or birds were harmed.
15 Sep, 2014
As a precaution I would take some of the still green growth as cuttings. They should root easily being Forsythia.
15 Sep, 2014
I'm sure it will survive. There's still lots of greenery and it will come back.
15 Sep, 2014
Thank you. Already there is a chill in the air. You can really feel it at night. I doubt there would be enough time for any new growth to harden off before winter.
16 Sep, 2014
I agree leave it and hope, the ground underneath doesn't look scorched so hopefully the roots are ok, thats the important thing I think
16 Sep, 2014
That's bad luck, Paul, but as others say, all is not lost. Forsythia is one of those plants that are difficult to kill, so be patient and it will recover.
16 Sep, 2014
If mine has a branch it layers itself!
16 Sep, 2014
Thank you. I think the roots are ok. I'll leave alone until Spring to see what happens.
16 Sep, 2014
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15 Sep, 2014