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Hibiscus/variegated laurel/viburnum tinus dying

les.winjeelles.winjeel Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi, we have a Viburnum tinus hedge that looks like it is dying in places. Also our variegated laurel got hit by the cold at the start of this year, went black, leaves fell off and is now dead. The Hibiscus next to it also got hit but the cold and only produced a few leaves. It now has a white substance on it's trunk. Can anyone tell me what to do from the photos attached please? I will need to dig out the laurel, do I need to dig out the viburnum/hibiscus as well?

Posts

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    You have a lot of mature shrubs and the soil looks really compacted and even heavy water may not penetrate in the summer. In the winter, the opposite, the soil is sticky muds. The trunk does not look good. Not sure which plant that is, but I doubt it will survive. I would dig it all out. Viburnum does look like die back, so check the branches for signs of breakages and any oozing of a sticky substance. If you do see that, you will have to prune beyond these areas. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I agree with borderline, those two look definitely dead and should be dug out. The viburnum might regenerate if all the dead wood is cut out, they are usually pretty tough plants. It might help if you gently forked the soil around the shrubs, water them really well and then lay a mulch of manure or leaf mould.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • les.winjeelles.winjeel Posts: 2
    Thank you both for your comments. I will be doing a lot of digging over the weekend!
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