Dying nandinas? - Ask Extension
My outside nandinas seem to be losing their foliage over the very cold winter. I’m wondering if they will recover or will they have to be replaced? ...
Knowledgebase
Dying nandinas? #927004
Asked March 29, 2026, 12:58 PM EDT
My outside nandinas seem to be losing their foliage over the very cold winter. I’m wondering if they will recover or will they have to be replaced? They’re about 7 yrs old.
Harford County Maryland
Expert Response
Many of their stems do not have foliage and all eight nandinas are affected. There are some brown areas on some of the foliage.
Most Nandinas in this area suffered in this winter's wild weather. The Extension has gotten a lot of questions about them. They probably will not recover. As it turns out, this is serendipitous since Nandinas can be overly vigorous and seed around aggresively. This is a good opportunity to replace them. Here are some possible replacements:
Ilex glabra (Inkberry holly) and Distyllium are evergreen, but don't have red berries.
Ilex verticilata (winterberry) has red berries in the fall but is deciduous. You need to plant a male and female plant to get the berries. Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry) is another deciduous plant with fall red berries.
Hope this helps. Thanks for contacting Ask Extension.
Taffy
Ilex glabra (Inkberry holly) and Distyllium are evergreen, but don't have red berries.
Ilex verticilata (winterberry) has red berries in the fall but is deciduous. You need to plant a male and female plant to get the berries. Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry) is another deciduous plant with fall red berries.
Hope this helps. Thanks for contacting Ask Extension.
Taffy
