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Fungus on leaves of Fortunia bushes :(

18 years ago

We have 6 large Fortunia bushes that are cut as trees in our yard that are about 11 years old. They are the perfect size behind our pool, blocking the neighbors house, but short enough that we can see the mountains above them. I noticed dark spots on the leaves of all of the trees...mostly on the new growth. Some trees have more leaves with spots. I took some leaves into a local nursery and was told they have a fungus and this would definitely kill all the trees with in 1 to 2 years no matter what I did. Another nursey said it would probably kill the trees, but I can try to trim off the bad leaves which are mostly in the new growth and spray them with a funguside and maybe would have a chance to save them. Are you familiar with this fungus and is there a chance the trees can be saved? The trees look healthy other than the new leaves that are spotted.

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Comment (1)

yarddoctor
18 years ago
Dear BT33,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. Read the response below from my Garden Nurse, Susan Gruber.

I am really stumped on this one.
I am sorry, but I have never heard of Fortunia and after checking all my woody plant references I can tell you Dirr, Harrison and several others have not, either. There are lots of plants which are cv. or var. fortunei, but that isn't getting us anywhere.
We would need a positive ID of the host plant to be of any help.
I am surprised to hear the local nursery folks giving up hope on controlling a leaf spot...must be one heck of a pathogen. I would add sanitation (removing all fallen or pruned leaves), and avoid overhead watering to the recommendations they gave.
Since these plants play such an important role in the landscape, it would certainly be worth investing a bit of money in obtaining an expert diagnosis. Consider sending a sample in to the closest Extension Service Diagnostic Clinic or hiring a Certified Arborist to visit the site.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com
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