What do I do with a fuschia in April that looks dead?

try not to worry it is alive.i have been in my garden this morning and theres the tiniest little bud.i cut one of mine as you have and it was the same.good luck.

It is still early in the season as far as fuchsias are concerned and mine, in a sheltered garde, are only just beginning to show signs of regrowth. You have two options with a fuchsia - either let it shoot on all the old wood, cutting back dead ends later OR cur it right down to ground level when there are signs of green at the base and let it form a new framework this year. Feeding with garden compost or fetiliser now would help as well

You'll be amazed at how much growth it will make by the end of the season. You can cut all the dead wood off if you like.

If I were you I would cut it all down to a few centimetres from the ground. Don't worry, this will not hurt the plant, just the opposite in fact, there's bound to be lots of dead twigs in the centre where light & air can't reach during the flowering season.

You will get lot's & lots of strong deep green shoots from the base of the bush which will give you a show your neighbours will envy!!!

Fuchsias flower on the growth they make during this growing season, (just like roses & you must have seen how some people cut them right back to the ground every year & the lovely display they give later.), so you will do them no harm.

BTW, I grow them on my balcony, too! I have two standard Fuchsias that I created myself, they are just coming into growth. I have some smaller ones I grow in the white jardineres you will see in my photos of my balcony.

I know how you feel- I had four very old ones and up until a few days ago thought I had lost every single one of them to their first experience of snow. I was going to dig them out and I'm so glad I didn't because it turns out they have all made it :-D

They start growing so late, it always seems there can't possibly be time enough for them to flower. I have an old fuchsia in a pot on the patio (I think the roots are down between the paving slabs)This is its 17th year from its start as a pot fuchsia in a mixed planter. It usually keeps flowers until the first really hard frosts. And it gets cut down to the base every year.

i have one like yours , i moved it in the winter months, i keep looking for new growth and i found some yesterday !only a bit at the bottom of the shrub, i wont cut it back yet as thw weather this weekend is going to be cold, but hope to cut it next week when it will have put more growth on, then give it a feed with a high potage feed to encourage flowering.