looks like dog damage ..

a bit of a monoculture... if it croaks.. and it were my setup ... i would replace it with a different version of W .... but thats just me ...

ken

Thanks for reposting, GG.

This is just plain interesting. Don't mean to be insensitive, but it's a real who/what-done-it.

There seems to be real clues, e.g. only one of the same cultivar, apparently with the same growing and maintenance conditions and the location (namely only the front one and problem focused only on one side of that one).

Not to completely exclude others, but I like Ken's suggestion.

So are there dog's around? It could be a pee/hit and run. It's the most accessible plant. Are there dogs in the neighbourhood and could a dog get in?

Sometimes in garden maintenance you suspect, but don't feel sure about the root cause of a problem. Presumably that's because there's often not one single dramatic cause but an interaction of causes. You can also never be sure that an individual plant didn't come with an inherent weakness/susceptability, Still, in this case, what is the likelihood that that single plant would be the front one. It does seem unfortunate, GG, that the affected plant is kind of the lead plant in an attractively planted formation.

Still a gardener's life is not (always) a happy one!

So interesting.

If it were mine and I was curious, I'd dig it up and look at the roots. If they looked healthy, pop it back in and it won't know the difference. While it was in my hand,I'd also give it a good sniff for urine.

Thanks everyone. What do you all think about pruning off the one side and if so, now at this time of year??

Are the branches affected or just the leaves? If it is just the leaves and the branches are still alive you don't want to prune them resulting in a lopsided bush.

This late in the season I would try watering well, in case it is dog damage, to remove excess salts and probably put some kind of fencing around it to discourage further damage. Then would wait to see how it does next spring.

It is not dogs. There are none running loose in the neighborhood. Leaves are turning dark brown. Stems seem to be doing likewise, but I guess we won't prune until we prune everything else for winter. Most likely the best thing to do is to wait until next year. If we plant another now, it won't be as established and won't be able to keep up with the others in size. These plants are very slow growing. The ones in the picture were planted in May of 2014 and really haven't grown that much since then.

I'm not saying it is a dog problem. Still, want to note that dogs don't have to be running loose to be a problem. I can't count the number of times I have seen dogs on a leash doing their business in my and my neighbors' yards while the owner watched.

Scratch the branch a bit to see if it is still alive and supple.

Further to Lacyvail's comment I'm wondering why these shrubs would be deemed to need pruning at all. They don't look aged and they aren't very big.