Marianne's Response

Black Spots on Viburnum Davidii

I have five viburnum davidii about nine years old. They face south, so they get several hours of sunlight. They were originally planted on too many rocks in poor soil. Last summer I dug out rocks from the area surrounding them and added new soil. They always flower but have developed many black spots on the leaves in the past few months. I cut off many of those leaves. There is new growth on most of them. I will attach a few photos of the shrubs and the insecticide product I sprayed them with today.
I now wonder if perhaps that was not the correct product to use on them. Could you identify what is causing the black spots and what to do going forward? Thank you

Posted by Ruth Faldet on May 10, 2024

Marianne's Response

Viburnums often suffer from leaf blight and leaf spots, and this is a fungal infection encouraged by wet weather and fungus-filled soil. You treated it with an insecticide that does not kill the fungus. The good news is your viburnums should recover, and the damaged leaves should fall off. I suggest you add a mulch of dry wood chips of beauty bark this summer. The fresh, dry mulch will keep the fungal spores in the compost you added from splashing up onto the leaves next spring.  In this case, spraying a fungicide would not cure the disease, so don't waste your money. Ensure you did not pile the new soil up around the stems or trunks of the shrubs. Shrubs that are stressed from too much soil around the trunk are more susceptible to disease. Expect a better display of foliage and flowers next spring and Keep Growing, Marianne Binetti