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COTONEASTER SUDDEN DEATH

prunissimoprunissimo Posts: 5
in Problem solving

The leaves on the cotoneasters along my front fence have all suddenly turned to an autumnal red-brown colour and the first of them,which did so last summer, is now totally dead. This one was forty years old, so I thought it was just old age, but the others are only three years old.and have now sone the same thing.

Can anyone please offer an explanation, though it's obviously too late for a cure. I attach a photo of the discoloured leaves.on the new plants.

image

 

 

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  • prunissimoprunissimo Posts: 5

    Thanks for hoprful advice, but I'm afraid they're tinder-dry.

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546

    I dug out some overgrown cotoneasters in 2013, reinstating a rockery that was there before they grew so large.. This year there are dozens of baby cotoneasters appearing all over, so maybe all is not lost, some seedlings may survive for you too!

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Are you sure it's a cotoneaster? It looks like a purple berberis to me  - but I havn't got my specs on...image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • prunissimoprunissimo Posts: 5

    jo47, Thanks, a good thought, but it's a side fence well inside my garden.

    Fairygirl, Thanks for your suggestion - probably poor photography but it realy is a cotoneaster.

  • prunissimoprunissimo Posts: 5

    Pansyface. I've had cotoneasters in various gardens for the past sixty years and I'd always assumed that they were eternal and bombproof. But alas, no!

    Buttercupdays. The seedlings have suffered as well.

  • Lily PillyLily Pilly Posts: 3,845

    I would just adopt a " wait and see" policy

    Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
    A A Milne
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    One possibility that you probably don't want to hear is Honey fungus.  If the problem started at one point and is spreading along the row then HF is a possibility.  The fact that seedlings are also affected is one thing which makes me suspect this damaging fungal disease.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Gardener JohnGardener John Posts: 114
    I have cotoneaster as a hedge all round my front garden it was there when we

    moved in. After about ten years I noticed some areas turned rust colour, the

    leaves then fell off leaving dead patches..I was told its fire blight a fungal disease. I was told to cut this out then plant small cuttings which were at the

    base of the hedge which I did, Maybe you will spot some under yours.

    Anyway the hedge looks ok today but its an ongoing battle.
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698

    I also think it could be fire blight. I have a cotoneaster against the garage wall that I can't get rid of, no matter how hard I attack the blighter. It doesn't want to succumb to any diseases or attack by saw and mattock.

  • prunissimoprunissimo Posts: 5

    Thanks to you all for your helpful suggestions. A careful examionation has eliminated fireblight and, thank goodness, honey fungus.  I can only assume that the original plant has died of old age and hope that the young ones are just being deciduous!  I'll find out come the Spring.

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