London,
United Kingdom 
Hi -I have a problem with a number of aucubas which i planted in my border in late march. They were all container grown, some smaller than others and my intention was for them to grow into a natural barrier between me and next door. In the last three weeks three of the plants - the smallest have wilted completely and do not respond to watering. Some of the leaves have black crispy blotches on them and the lower stems have gone dark - though they are not slimey or smelly. I dug one up today to see if there were any visible problems but theres nothing that I can see. Is this due to drought? I live in London and parts of the border are in full sun for most of the day. But I havw watered the shrubs well and regularly. Any ideas?
Thanks Beverley
On plant
Aucuba
30 Jul, 2010
Answers
Lots of Aucubas have had this problem recently. Both my neighbour and I have had tocut ours right back, removing the blackened stems and all the affected leaves. I cut some of the stems to the ground as they were totally blackened...as black as coal!
Someone on here said that lots of Aucubas were being affected by some sort of virus this year. In addition to doing the above, I fed with fish, blood and bone. They are growing quite well again....but only today I noticed some black spots on the leaves ...again!
30 Jul, 2010
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You probably simply have not watered enough, if they were planted in March they need heavy watering right through the summer.
30 Jul, 2010