Viburnum tinus (common names: Laurustinus)

Viburnum tinus - if I could only have one shrub in my garden, it would be this one. Flowers for six months!

Andrew - I noticed some die-back at the side of one yesterday, should I cut out the dying branches, do you think?

if i were you Spritz i would cut all dead and damaged bits out, it could just be that this branch has got damaged, proberly nothing to worry about. viburnum can be pruned qute hard and comes back better for it! - i'm always chopping bits off my mums one for flower arrangments and it seems to like it! pruning should be done after flowering, according to my book, but they do have such a long flowering period. i aways cut it when in flower or sometimes in bud - as this is best for my arrangements, and it does'nt seem to mind at all. it just produces more, if anything cutting now will proberly prolong flowering, so go for it, be brave!

Yes cut it out and dispose of it straight away.

There are two diseases that can affect Viburnum called Phytophthora hedraiandra or ramorum. It's a basal stem canker (look for cankers about 10cm up the stem from the base) causing defoliation and dieback
It's been spreading across Europe for a couple of years now. It gets into areas of damage on the plant and destroys it. Cut off dead wood as low to the ground as possible then burn the offcuts -DO NOT COMPOST
Keep an eye on the rest of the plant for similar things happening.
Good luck

Sounds scary! I shall look carefully as I wield my trusty pruning saw... Thanks to you all for the advice - I thought I probably should cut it off! It's going to leave a horrible gap, unfortunately.

One other point, after you have used any pruning tools where you are possibly cutting out diseased material, dip your blade into bleach to sterilise before going on to another shrub. (A 10 percent solution is strong enough.)

Well, I have cut off all dead bits and also unhealthy-looking bits, too, and sterilised my secateurs and pruning saw. I burnt the cut off bits as suggested. I couldn't find any damage on the branches, or cankers or anything that looked any different from the other branches, so it's still a mystery. I crawled right underneath it to look! Henry though it was a great game...I have pulled the front healthy branches as far back as I dare, to hide the ugly gap (a bit) and I'll be watching out for any more problems. Thanks everybody, and keep your fingers crossed!

this is the same as my standard.2yrs old
nannydigit.devon.

How old is it? Plants do have a life span you know.

We do not know. The house is about 25 years old and the tree was here when we bought it in late 2004. That is probably not very helpful. I'm wondering if the grub problem we have in the rest of the yard is causing the problem. We have a golden retriever (very prone to cancer) and a 1 yr old daughter, so we would prefer non-chemical alternatives to pesticides. Any ideas? Thanks for your response!

looks like a Viburnum of some sort ,is it V.tinus?

Thank you so much for this Amy. You know, I think you are right, I looked it up on google images and I am so happy I can put a nametag under it. Thanks again.

Does this one get blue berries later on? Then it is the same what I had in my garden.

Hello Abandbb.

Have you been watering your tree well?

When I bought a young tree from a nurseries a couple of years ago, the store owner told me that more young trees and bushes die from lack of watering than from anything else.

She told me even if there had been rain, always give the tree base area lots of extra water, just in case the rain didn't reach the roots.

I hope this helps.

Got that! they grow quite fast and always health looking.

Isn't that funny, I ad the same flowers, same shrub, which I turned into a hedge on the farm! That is on the other side of the world. I love them, mine flowered in the winter though.