Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Dying hedge - HELP

Hi, I moved into my house a year ago and not long after noticed the hedge on the front drive was dying in a particular place. The area has grown a lot over the year and I am wondering what the issue is and how can I reverse it. All help welcome! 

The stems look like they are coated in black but then I noticed today some white mould looking growth on some stems. 

I have added some pictures below. 

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited November 2023
    @ntv5dv69xs60026 Do you know what the hedge is, Privet maybe? Not sure from the photo.Have you tried cutting some of the stems in the blackened area for signs of life, is the whole central area dead? Clean secatuers before and after.
    This type of problem can have various causes from lack of water. too much water, stress from temperatures or disease. The big concern would be honey fungus which you just need to be aware of, not easy to diagnose either. Are other plants healthy?
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • @ntv5dv69xs60026 Do you know what the hedge is, Privet maybe? Not sure from the photo.Have you tried cutting some of the stems in the blackened area for signs of life, is the whole central area dead? Clean secatuers before and after.
    This type of problem can have various causes from lack of water. too much water, stress from temperatures or disease. The big concern would be honey fungus which you just need to be aware of, not easy to diagnose either. Are other plants healthy?
    I’ve snipped away some stems in the dead looking area and they are really dry in comparison with a snipping from a healthy area. The healthy area has green beneath the bark whereas the dead area is twig like with no green section. 

    I do believe this is a Privet and after a google I did read honey fungus could be the issue, although from reading there would usually be mushroom looking growth at the roots but I can’t see any. 

    This area of white fungus looking growth is the big concern, does that look like honey fungus? 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    The white fungussy stuff could be taking advantage of already-dead stems.
    If it was mine I would wait until spring, see where new growth starts to show and then cut out the dead parts above the new growth. That might mean cutting out a lot and losing the screening effect, and if there's a whole plant (or more than one) that is completely dead, it's probably best to dig that one out, improve the soil and plant a new one. It would take a few years for it to fill out and blend in with the rest. If new growth comes at the base of the affected area it will eventually fill in, and you might be abel to let some shoots on either side grow long and train them horizontally across the gap. None of those is a quick fix though.
    One possibility - as it's beside a drive, has there been a vehicle standing there with the engine running and the exhaust near that part of the hedge? Virgin Media did that to a section of mine by putting their van on the wide section of pavement next to it with the engine running (to power some machinery I think) when they were installing fibre and cabinets in our road several years ago. It's just about filled back in now.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • JennyJ said:
    The white fungussy stuff could be taking advantage of already-dead stems.
    If it was mine I would wait until spring, see where new growth starts to show and then cut out the dead parts above the new growth. That might mean cutting out a lot and losing the screening effect, and if there's a whole plant (or more than one) that is completely dead, it's probably best to dig that one out, improve the soil and plant a new one. It would take a few years for it to fill out and blend in with the rest. If new growth comes at the base of the affected area it will eventually fill in, and you might be abel to let some shoots on either side grow long and train them horizontally across the gap. None of those is a quick fix though.
    One possibility - as it's beside a drive, has there been a vehicle standing there with the engine running and the exhaust near that part of the hedge? Virgin Media did that to a section of mine by putting their van on the wide section of pavement next to it with the engine running (to power some machinery I think) when they were installing fibre and cabinets in our road several years ago. It's just about filled back in now.
    Yes waiting seems to be the best option at the moment although the dying has been going on for some time and getting worse, even through the summer this year which doesn’t give me hope. 

    Re the vehicle comment the car exhaust actually sits nearer to the healthy section so don’t think this would be the cause.

    i have read online that you can check for honey fungus by pulling off dead branches and looking for black strings underneath the bark so I will check that out. There is also a comment about a treatment for honey fungus that was banned but is actually now branded as a patio cleaner with the exact same chemicals so I may give that a go. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It does look like privet, and it's quite vulnerable to honey fungus, so if you don't have problems elsewhere it's likely to be that. That section won't recover and if I remember correctly, you'd need to remove it. Whether you can easily replace it with new plants in the same position, I don't know.
    I've never seen it here, but I know a few forum members have had it so they might be able to help if they see your query. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.