Which one did you get Harry? I bought tomentosum Shasta from Bluestone three years ago in the spring. I planted it in the back by the lake and in the fall of that year I was weeding and thought it was a sucker from something else and yanked it out. It was hard to get it out and I was thinking "man this thing really rooted deep". It was after I yanked it out and had it in my hand that I thought "uh oh. this is my viburnum". I planted it back where it had been and it didn't miss a beat.
It's about three feet tall now and made it through the Easter freeze just fine. (we had 50mph winds and wind chills of -30).

That sounds encouraging Jackie. Mine is Mariessii. I suppose I shouldn't assume all Viburnums are the same.

I give mine absolutely no care. No water. No fertilizer. No mulch. No real pruning. They look perfect and grow big. I transplanted 2 Leather Leaf Viburnums in the middle of August when they were 8' tall. The rootballs were little bigger than basketballs. But they thrived despite my callous approach.

This Doublefile will get more care if necessary.

I have a Shasta. My neighbors have a line of Mariessi. They will wilt if they get too dry. It seems to be what I've heard described once as 'the Madame Butterfly act' - a serious death drama that they quickly get over once the curtain closes. These are all in partial shade.

As for hardiness, according to Dirr, the winter we hit -30°F, completely wiped out all the doubefiles in interior New England. Given that here, it's hard to come up with another year we went below -20°F, it's a gamble, but the odds are in my favor.

If you have found instructions on pruning doublefiles, could I ask where? My neighbor's husband has serious problems with the idea that plants grow, and planted this row of Mariesii on something like 4 ft centers. I think about half ot them need moved, she thinks they need pruned.

MadG,
You have mentioned some of the things I read: hardiness issues and wilt. I Googled up Doublefile Viburnum last week and saw a recommendation for removing older branches from the center of the plant. I wouldn't call it instructions. There was even mention of some disease. I wish I had noted the article sources.

Point is, I already planted it. Its in a good spot. It is better thrive.

Hi....

I have a Viburnum mariesii too. I love them. I planted a small one 2 years ago. I have to say that we had serious drought here in my yard this summer. Probably 4 months with only 2 rainfalls that were measurable. When we were not on water ban, I dragged the hose from one end of the garden to the other. My Viburnum mariesii was wilting all the time. Finally it started showing brown edges on the foliage and right now looks pretty crispy. I really tried to keep it moist, but I was starting out with dry/part shade to begin with, so I am starting to have doubts to whether this was a good choice for me.

I am seeing two other shrubs that tolerated everything that was thrown at them and still look good..a Cornus racemosa, a native and a Viburnum Wentworth that has had no more water or sun than the mariesii and hasn't got an ugly leaf on it at this point.

Since I already have the shrub, I am trying to decide now, what to do with it. I am considering moving it, but I am having a hard time placing it elsewhere because of it's eventual size and wanting it to grow without pruning.

I have one place it might work that is a small improvement over it's current location. I am thinking about whether I can contour the soil around it to create a little depression where the rain will collect to see if that will help keep it more moist. The problem is, I read that it really likes good drainage, so getting drainage and moisture is not easy in my yard.

So...if anyone has any suggestions, I would love something new to consider. :-) I think I might try moving it to another location and then if that is not good enough, I probably will give it away. Sadly.

pm2

My Shasta is about 8 years old and very large. It was hit badly by the spring freeze, but has recovered magnificently. I find that every spring I have to prune out vertical suckers that come from branches deep in the plant. Not a problem, but it usually takes two people to do it properly--one to hold back the horizontal branches so the other can reach into the plant with the loppers.

Through the years in different gardens I have grown a couple of varieties of this beautiful shrub. With laceyvail my only pruning has been of vertical suckers. The doublefile is beautifully horizontal in growth and the vertical suckers have to go.