Ceanothus ... dead!?

[Deleted]

I planted one 2 years ago and it has grown fabulously and flowered brilliantly ever since. Earlier this year, I noticed on branch was very brown & dead looking, so I cut it back.

Anyway ... it flowered beautifully earlier in the year and almost immediately after flowering the whole shrub has gone brown and dead - almost overnight.

I am sure it has died but wondered if anybody has had one just die like that immediately after flowering. I wonder (probably not) if there is something I can do to try to resurrect it in some way.

Any advice/comments greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Deleted]

I doubt that it would die sooooo quickly

You need to scratch away some of the bark with your thumb nail, if it's green underneath then the plant isn't dead.

Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there.

[Spruance]

I had this very same problem in August 2006, Marble, just prior to the launch of GWD in fact. The new Ceanothus I had carefully planted at the beginning of the year and fed with a generous helping of chicken manure pellets was turning brown at an alarming rate and I posted about in on the BBC boards......

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbgardening/F2759007?thread=3353837

Several people pointed out the error of my ways. Ceanothus prefer a poor dry soil, low in nutrients and so I was effectively killing it with kindness. Since then the plant has been on a starvation diet and is thriving.

By all means cut off the brown bits but apart from that leave it to its own devices, and it should recover.

BTW The photolinks associated with the BBC thread no longer work, but these were the photos that I posted at the time...

[Pip]

Good heavens Spruance , that looked a bit of a mess didn't it.
Marble I do hope that your Ceanothus isn't dead, I have never had any problems with mine. I do not know how to do one of these link thingys but Rosefriend posted a thread called "Henry Linde" on the Gardening Chat board and she has had terrible problems with things dying or half dying very quickly. I do hope it is nothing like that.

Pip

[4pygmies]

I've had terrible trouble with my Ceanothos too - p'raps they are prone to dying back? I planted one with a rose, Mme Zephirin, about 4 years ago to train over an arch. They both did really well the first year, the Ceanothos flowered beautifully and grew at rate of knots. Then in the second year it started to brown and die on one side. I went at it with the loppers and pruned it quite hard. It recovered and flowered pretty well again. And then lo and behold, it did exactly the same on the other half the next Spring. Now it's flowering on one spindly branch (really well though : and the rest of it looks bloody awful..... I think I shall have to prune both the Rose and the Ceanothos really hard this time and hope for the best.....it's annoying as they grow really well round here for everyone else....and now the poxy arch has rusted on one side and collapsed anyway..sigh....

[Rosefriend]

Makes me wonder what is wrong with my Ceanothus to be honest. Mine had lots of brown stems in the Spring and only really flowered at the ends - I did think it could be something to do with it being in a tub but it is a 100 litre tub and it is only 2 years old.

RF

[Deleted]

Jul 26, 2008 8:22:55 GMT 4pygmies said:

I've had terrible trouble with my Ceanothos too - p'raps they are prone to dying back? I planted one with a rose, Mme Zephirin, about 4 years ago to train over an arch. They both did really well the first year, the Ceanothos flowered beautifully and grew at rate of knots. Then in the second year it started to brown and die on one side. I went at it with the loppers and pruned it quite hard. It recovered and flowered pretty well again. And then lo and behold, it did exactly the same on the other half the next Spring. Now it's flowering on one spindly branch (really well though : and the rest of it looks bloody awful..... I think I shall have to prune both the Rose and the Ceanothos really hard this time and hope for the best.....it's annoying as they grow really well round here for everyone else....and now the poxy arch has rusted on one side and collapsed anyway..sigh....

That's pretty much what has happened with this one of mine. It has been fabulous and I was amazed by how quickly it grew. It has been such a dramatic change. Weird.

Anyway ... cut a few stems at the weekend and the insides are very dry.

I shall give it a good haircut and see what happens ... not holding out much hope though!

Thanks for all your help. At least it's encouraging to hear other similar stories and realise that it's not something that I have done (or not done) to it.