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What's killing my shrubs?

JanetlJanetl Posts: 31
in Problem solving
These have suddenly died back this year and are covered in white flecks on both side of the leaves and all over the branches. They were fine a few months ago when I trimmed them back. All 10 are like this  -  some worse than others. I noticed that my next door neighbours has the same white flecks too. We cut the worst one right back and will do the same for the rest but feel it could be curtains for them. Any ideas as what has caused it?
Thanks in advance
Jan

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The white flecks look like the casings from aphids.
    Is it all the same type of shrub that's affected, or are there others? It looks like privet, which can succumb to honey fungus, but I can't tell from the photo if it's that or Euonymus. Perhaps you can confirm?
    They [Euonymus] normally don't get bothered by much, but if it's that, I wonder if you pruned, and then had a very cold spell which has been the problem. Some varieties are less hardy than others. I can't grow some of them here for example, as the cold winters see them off. 
    There's a little bit of vine weevil nibbling on the 2nd pic, but again, that shouldn't really do any major harm. The newer green foliage shows it's reverting too, and normally you would remove those stems to prevent them taking over. That can also be a sign of stress.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I think it's a Euonymus and mine get the same every summer.
    Smothered in sticky aphid gunk as Fg says above.
    If it's really bad I cut it back as much as I can, but I also have a rambling rose growing through it. It soon re-grows.
    Some years are worse than others.
    I often also find scale insects at the same time - they look like tiny brown limpet shells on some of the branches.
    I'd remove it if I could but it's entwined in the rose and the fence

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    This looks like a variegated Euonymus with some reversion to green. If it is Euonymus they are susceptible to scale insects. They can take hard pruning to get rid of them. I'm not sure about the die back in the middle though, others may have some thoughts.
  • JanetlJanetl Posts: 31
    Thanks you. They are Euronymus and pretty old ones at that. I have not seen any scale insects. I did cut them back in May (ish) some just a trim, others by about 1/4 and with the weather they might have been stressed. It is the first time I have seen this on them. I think we will just cut them all right back and then decide whether to keep or replace.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I felt it could just be cold/weather if it was Euonymus as they don't tend to be affected greatly by insect damage, but if they were already stressed, they'd struggle to shrug that off. If the neighbour is having similar problems, it does suggest weather. 
    I couldn't make my mind up whether it was that, or privet though, and that can certainly get honey fungus, which looks like the dead area in the pic. The fact that there was a lot of them made me wonder if it was a hedge rather than individual shrubs too. 

    However, if they're old, they may just be at the end of their life. All you can do is wait and see if they recover, then make your decision.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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