Question
Dear Will,  I have a peace lilly that was from my grandfathers funeral and I am doing my best to keep it alive, unfortunately I have a little kitten at home that seems to hate the plant she keeps tearing up the leaves and I was wondering what is the best way to care for the damaged leaves, they are not deas yet but afraid they will unless I do something to save it.  any help would be greatly apprecaited.

Answer
Hi Maranda,

The plant can survive the damaged leaves, but the individual leaves may not. There really is no way that you can repair a torn or chewed leaf and it will never heal itself.

However, you can make the plant look more attactive. If it is just the edges of a leaf that are torn or frayed, then you can trim off the outside damaged portion, maintaining the original shape of the leaf so it doesn't look obviously cut. If the main vein in the leaf is damaged or most of the leaf is shredded, then you should cut off the entire leaf just to make the plant look nicer.

New leaves that come in will not be affected by the damage already done. If you can keep your cat away from the new leaves, then gradually new leaves will replace all of the damaged ones.

That's all you can do. Good luck!

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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