Purple Lantana Dying Out



yellow or gold lantana

Q. Am having trouble with purple Lantana. They are dying out. The gold Lantana is still doing well. Am watering 3 days a week at 20 minutes and 4 days a week at 7 minutes. I have noticed that my neighbors are having the same type of trouble. Hope you have a solution.

A. The lantanas in general flower on new wood so as they get older the flowers will get further and further from the center of the plant provided it does not freeze back. This tends to make the center kind of bare and most of the foliage and flowers at the ends.

Trailing or purple lantana

            If it freezes back and does not die out due to very low temperatures then the plant will stay more compact and will need to be trimmed back to a few inches each early spring. But this plant, if it is in a place where it stays warm and does not freeze back, will tend to get leggy and not have much foliage on the inside.

            So make sure you cut it back to keep renewing new growth close to the center of the plant. You can do that now to some degree. Cut back one third of the stems to a couple inches in length. Stagger the cuts so that they are random on older wood through the canopy

            It will require watering fairly often if the soil drains of water easily. Fertilize lightly in the spring and fall. To maintain bushiness irrigate frequently like any normal shrub. If you decide at some time to replace it make sure you add compost to the soil at the time of planting.