Euonymous Shrubs All Dying ....

[Ann]

Does anyone know why 2 very large established (one is 30 years old) euonymous bushes are all dead for about 1 foot down from the tops of most of the branches? Could they be frosted I wonder? If so, why hasn't it affected anything else in the garden? Is there a virus affecting just this species? Can anyone help please?

[FredPuli43]

It may depend on where they are. Are they in some place where they are exposed to wind, or in a frost pocket? That may result in frost damage, given the wrong adverse conditions. For example, I have eucalyptus dalrympeana, a particularly hardy eucalypt. The trees are over 40 feet high. For the first time they have suffered from the weather, with die back to a marked degree, yet none of the other trees around them have suffered. Under freakish wintery conditions of cold and wind at the wrong time, they have been hit.

[Robinia]

Yes, I'd put it down to the weather, dry conditions with cold winds/frost can cause damage. Did you have a lot of snow which froze solid? Prune away the dead areas and hopefully they'll soon recover.

[Ann]

Thanks - I'm sure it must have been the frost or snow which caused the die back, but it's so strange, they are in different parts of our garden, one in the front garden, one at the back - the latter being against a fence. It almost looks as if they are suffering from drought. Will prune back when the tulips in the border have died, can't step around them at the moment. Thanks for the advice folks! :0)