How do I rescue my Mahonia

[Betsy200]

I have a large well established mahonia in my garden. It hasn't flowered this year. Suddenly the top of the leaves have started going brown. Maybe the roots are damaged- next door have been putting a patio on the other side of the fence. We have clay soil. I have looked on the internet and it says to water it and cut whole branches out but the brown now seems more widespread. Does anyone have any other ideas of what might help.

Hard to know without seeing it. If I was that attached to it I might chop the whole thing right back to 6” high, give it a feed and a mulch, and see if it regrows. But you might be better off cutting your losses and replacing it with something else when the work next door has finished.

Thanks for the comments. It's a big Mahonia and gives a lot of privacy in the garden. I have attached a couple pf photos but don't know if they show the browning well enough. It is like a tree really.

Mahonia are quite tough. It sounds like the frost has got to it. I’d just prune off the affected bits, it will soon grow back.