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New England Gardening

PJM Rhodie biting the dust--why?

18 years ago

I have three legacy PJMs that were there when we moved in. Foundation shrubs--I agree they're overplanted but the bronze color looks nice against our dark green house. Of the three in front, 2 are flowering nicely, but the biggest one (right next to a healthy one) is dying--shriveled leaves, brown buds..Do these things have a natural life span?

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Comments (9)

triciae
18 years ago
Are they under the drip line of your roof? If so, it might be lack of water. It was extremely dry last summer & it's also been dry since January 1, 2006 (until last weekend for some of us).
ginny12
18 years ago
PJMs are hard to kill so this is a bit of a mystery. Could it be winter-burn? That is, did it get a lot of full sun and wind during the winter? Was there a chemical spill of some garden chemical? Is there something buried in that area, or a very high water table, or a gutter dumping right on it? Just a few thoughts.
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1. Yes, it sounds like some winter damage. Winter damage could also be followed by an oportunistic fungus taking advantage of lesions on the leaves and this in turn causing the changing color. 2. Yes but always keep an eye on soil moisture because it can cause root rot. While you are controlling the moisture well, Mother Nature always has the last word in that department so it may help to add some of those crystals or shale rocks that absorb water and slowly release it. They may help in periods of lots of rain. Some of these fixes can also cause the dreaded bathtub effect where water from all sides of the plant ends up in the whole that you made. 3. In small amounts, the aluminum will not harm the rhodies but I would make an effort not to use it if they are close because no one can tell when it could develop into a problem. If your soil is already acidic and contains some naturally occuring aluminum, there would be no need to ammend the soil with a/s. My soil is alkaline and has naturally occuring aluminum so I ammend using garden Sulphur, green sand or liquid iron-chelated compounds. Turns them kind of purple-ish on some years (when I probably add too much but that was not the original plan... hee hee hee).
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sedum37
18 years ago
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This year I lost 3 mugo pines which also seem hard to kill. Just brown needles. The shrubs were around 12 years old. One I was planning to remove due to its size but the other two were perfect where they were. BTW a big job to dig out the roots of the one I've dug out!

Sue
atlas_ma
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks all..still curious why the pjm next to it is fine..

oh well.
ego45
18 years ago
As Ginny said, PJMs are hard to kill, especially the established one.
The only thing I could think of is a severe (intentional or not, doesn't matter) cultivation around the root zone.
Another, but less likely possible reason is that due to some digging/removing large rocks in a nearby area, drainage characteristics of the area has been changed and plant was either drown or overdried during the winter.
How big the are?
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
18 years ago
Some plants are sensitive enough to be harmed by weed and feed on the lawn. Is that a possibility?
runktrun
18 years ago
My eight year old PJM died suddenly this spring. It has been in a shrub border with no chemical or physical intervention. I am digging it up for autopsy tomorrow (rain or no rain) and will post again if I can find anything to report. I do have four pjm purple gem in another garden that are beautiful and doing fine. katy
ego45
18 years ago
"My eight year old PJM died suddenly this spring.... I am digging it up for autopsy tomorrow..."

Let me guess, Phytophthora aka Root rot. It's fatal and there is no cure. Diseased plant may look normal until further stressed from drought or flooding.
Check the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Az and Rh. diseases.
galileo
18 years ago
Mine died this year too, after many years of fine growth. It's next to a couple of thriving azaleas, so if it's root rot, they're not affected so far.

'Tis a mystery but I'm comforted to know I'm not the only one who lost a seemingly health PJM.

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