Alchemilla, the botanical name of lady's mantle, can be found in many gardens and offers a beautiful picture, especially when it is in bloom. Unfortunately, the plant tends to fall apart. We explain why this is and what helps against it.
Is it normal for lady's mantles to fall apart?
In lady's mantles, falling apart isnormaland especially in the higher varietiesnot unusual. The plant does not die and is not permanently damaged.
When does Lady's Mantle fall apart?
When the lady's mantle falls apart, it usually happensafter the first flowering The plant then not only looks pretty battered, but actually collapses. Other signs can include brownish flowers and brown edges on the leaves. This can occur both in lady's mantles planted in the garden and in specimens cultivated in pots or containers.
Why is Lady's Mantle falling apart?
If the lady's mantle falls apart, it can have various causes:
- After flowering, the plant is soexhausted that it now needs a break.
- The lady's mantle has grown sohigh that after flowering it no longer has enough support to stand up straight.
- Due to all the rain, the edible plants have grown much more than in drier summers.
- The garden soil contains too many nutrients for lady's mantle, which is actually a forest plant.
How to protect lady's mantle from falling apart?
A good and easy-to-implement measure to prevent the lady's mantle from breaking apart isfull planting of the perennial bed Cranesbill and ornamental garlic, for example, are well suited to combining with lady's mantle. This means that the individual perennials in the bed can support each other and not fall apart. Alternatively, the individual perennials can also be tied together. However, this is often perceived as disruptive to the overall appearance of the garden, especially in summer.
What helps after the lady's mantle falls apart?
If the lady's mantle has already fallen apart, aradical pruning after flowering will help. To do this, cut the lady's mantle in the perennial bed short (approx.5 cm) above the ground. After this pruning, the lady's mantle forms new leaves relatively quickly and becomes beautifully bushy for a second time a year. A second flowering is also quite likely by cutting back and the lady's mantle will then bloom until autumn.
Tip
Avoid over-fertilization
Lady's mantle is one of the plants that requires sporadic fertilization and is relatively easy to care for. The more fertilizer is applied, the taller the perennials become and the faster they fall apart. A suitable fertilizer is compost, which is worked into the soil with a spade in the spring before and during the growing season. Additional liquid fertilizers are only necessary if there is a nutrient deficiency.
