Cranberry Viburnum damage

Chemical or critterical?

This message was edited Aug 6, 2010 4:14 PM

I'd say chemical, although there is no leaf curling noticeable in the photo. Is the area around your shrub treated, such as by a lawn care company?

Hi,HooiserGreen and thanks for the response! This bush is twenty years old and has done well as a habitat plant.About three weeks ago this started with wilting overnight.Neighbor does spray broadleaf as well as as power washing garage shop often.The bush sits close to fence and 12 feet beyond it is the garage. My thinking was chemicals but wanted see if anything else would cause this.The bush is 12 ft x 6 ft. Can I save it or is the damage done? Thanks,again.

Oh, my gosh, that is so sad to see. And, it is still offering beautiful red berries as sick as it is.

Davers, I'm not an expert, but I'm thinking if it's chemical damage, it may be restricted to the foliage. In that case, it should be OK next year. If the chemical has gone into the plant's system, it may still be OK, if it's self defense and healing mechanisms can overcome the assault. Can you ask neighbor what broadleaf spray he uses? Then, you can look the product up and see what active ingredients it's made of, THEN, perhaps an arborist can tell you what the poor thing is up against.

Hi,sherriseden! The neighbor uses Round-up with a pump sprayer as well as Weed-be-gone.I have another Cranberry Viburnum 75 feet away from it's mate and is very healthy.As of this morning a Firebush and three Red-twig Dogwoods and a Honeysuckle vine (the good kind!) are showing wilt and curling also.(these plants are within 12 feet of the fence.)

Oh, my God - Round Up AND Weed B Gone?? Does he have a thing about plant life or what?

I know it's really important to get along with neighbors, but maybe you could suggest gently about aiming appropriately and perhaps turning the strength of his arsenal down a notch (or twelve)? If you approach it as neighbor to neighbor, maybe he'll listen. Hopefully, he won't turn the spray on you, but he sounds a bit neurotic. Sorry you are going through this, Davers.

P.S. Man, just thinking about this - I'm a pacifist, but I'd feel like hitting him with the hose!

Hopefully, you're on genial terms with this neighbor and can alert him to the damage to your shrubs that he has possibly caused, not actually accusing him of course. If he's used either of the chemicals on a windy day, the drift can definitely cause the damage. Otherwise, it's not usual that either would travel through the soil to your plants.

Good luck!

Hi! Yeah...kinda hard to take in the damage that chemicals can do..this is a Wildlife Habitat back yard and has been since 1994.The neighbor and I are friends.He is a radical weed killin kinda fool is all!Thank you for your concern.

One thing left out of the discussion above:

Use your Cooperative Extension Service office as a conduit for Plant Pathology diagnostics. Your tax dollars have already paid for this service.

By submitting specimens along with site conditions report before the plants are totally toast (meaning still green albeit wilting rapidly), the pathologists and entomologists can make very good determinations about what the problem might be - and they may even be interested in a site visit.

If you wait till things are totally dead, then you've lost a good bit of information and time.

This kind of action is quite important if health, safety, and welfare are at stake. Less alarmist though equally effective - this information is extremely useful if a lawsuit follows and evidence is necessary to determine damages incurred.

This website is good - but doesn't stand up in court nor effectively saves lives.

Davers, I think it's really cool that the owner of a backyard Wildlife Habitat and a "weed killin kind of fool" are friends! It's very unusual and you know what? If the whole crazy globe would get into this sort of mindset, well . . . John Lennon's dream expressed in "Imagine" (and Jesus's dream and Ghandi's and MLK's and many others) would come true!

Good luck, friend!

Peace n love, Sherri