Oleander Is Browning in the Winter

Oleander is a warm-climate evergreen shrub that produces colorful blooms in the summer and fall. Oleanders typically are found in West Coast and Gulf Coast states, where they can grow as much as 12 feet tall and wide. The blooms of the oleander come in a variety of colors, including yellow, white, purple, red and pink, and produce a fragrant scent. In general, like most evergreen plants, oleanders are hardy, but they are susceptible to browning of the leaves.

Soil-testing kit
Pruning shears

Instructions

- 1
  Water your oleander plants more frequently if the browning is occurring at approximately the same rate for the entire set of plants; they may not be getting enough moisture. Keep the soil moist for a few days to see whether the browning recedes and the leaves turn green again.
- 2
  Use a soil-testing kit to determine whether there is too much salt or boron in your soil, which can cause marginal browning of oleander leaves. Watering for several days can cause the salt or boron to leach from the soil and should return your oleander plants back to a healthy state. If necessary, remove some of the topsoil and replace it with fresh potting soil.
- 3
  Prune the browning leaves as much as you can with pruning shears if the processes in Step 1 and Step 2 do not resolve the issue because your plants may have developed leaf scorch disease. If this is the case, it will eventually become necessary to uproot and discard the affected oleander plants because there is no known cure for oleander leaf scorch.

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