How to restore a schefflera

Q My son moved away from home and left his favourite plant, a Schefflera, behind. It dropped most of its leaves but is still alive. How can I restore it to health before he returns?

- Anne Swithinbank

Margaret Caldwell, Chollerford, Northumberland

A This is a familiar scenario for parents whose offspring come and go, using the family home as a base and depositary for plants and pets. I currently find myself in charge of numerous pot plants, a hop trellis, two chickens, and three degus (South American rodents). Luckily, I enjoy looking after them all and restoring plants back to good health.

Scheffleras are evergreen shrubs belonging to the Aralia tribe and are also known as umbrella trees. You might be growing the impressive, larger-leaved Queensland umbrella tree (S. actinophylla) but cultivars of smaller-leaved Malaysian S. arboricola (especially the variegated cultivars) are generally easier to accommodate, and therefore more popular. Like the spokes of an umbrella, the leaflets of compound leaves fan out around a central point where the leaf stalk is attached. They make tall, long-lived, and very durable house plants, and even those left in the same pot for many years and subjected to irregular watering will cling stubbornly to life.