Question of the Week: January 2, 2020 – Number One

“My Asian jasmine turned brown with those first really cold nights back in November. Should I trim it to make it look better?”

I’ve been a big fan of Asian jasmine since my high school days when it was introduced into the Texas nursery trade. It has no insect or disease problems, at least that I’ve ever encountered.

However, its one shortcoming is that it’s not quite as winter-hardy as we would want for the colder parts of Texas. We live and garden outside the Dallas area and it turns brown in our landscape probably one winter out of three. However, it always comes back. Sometimes it’s from its roots. Other times it’s from its stems.

In either case, you can trim it to tidy up the beds and also to keep its height at a manageable level. When my beds have turned brown I set my mower as high as it will go. I run the mower on a low speed and I use it as my trimmer. Years when there is no browning and all I want to do is even the growth up I will use my line trimmer, again at a moderate rate.

As for timing of the trimming, it can be done anytime from now until late February.

Just to have said it, if you’re having to do this trimming more often than you like, consider purple wintercreeper euonymus. It’s a great alternative to Asian jasmine. Same growth habit and height, just with more winter durability.