Marianne's Response

What Is Killing My Wine and Rose Bushes?

Hi Marriane, I saw you on YouTube with a sick ivy topiary. Could you please help me determine why my wine and rose bushes are dying? They seem to be drying branch by branch. I am giving them a lot of water and fertilizer. I appreciate your help.

Posted by Cheryl CimilucaMi on May 29, 2024

Marianne's Response

Thanks for watching me on YouTube, and I think I can help. I am going to assume that when you say "wine and rose bushes", you mean a weigela shrub called wine and roses. This is a shrub that loses its leaves in the winter and then regrows in the spring. If the image you sent is of the new foliage that sprouted this spring, then I suspect a fungal or bacterial infection. This usually occurs when the shrub receives too much water and has poor drainage. If the shrub is getting a lot of water, then I suspect it is drowning. Most shrubs do not require additional water in the spring, as the ground is still saturated with winter moisture.  I suggest you remove all the dead and dying branches, and then dig up the shrub from the ground. Are the roots sitting in a damp spot? When you remove the plant from the planting hole, do you see that the roots are brown and rotting? If so, your only hope is to replant in a new location that gets good drainage. You might even want to pot it up into potting soil as the drainage will be better. No need to fertilize a plant that is struggling. Too much fertilizer can actually harm a plant by burning the foliage. If you do lose all your weigela in this area, do not replant with more of the same type of shrub.  Even if poor drainage is not the problem, the leaf damage could be anthracnose. This is a blight that cannot be cured, so switching to a different type of shrub is the practical thing to do. If you send your planting zone info, how much sun the area receives, and how much room you have, I would be happy to recommend some alternative plants that would be more disease-resistant. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti