Why do my Chinese Snowball Virburnum continue to lose leaves?

Question

I planted 2 varieties of snowball viburnum in the spring. Chinese snowball & Eastern snowball. When the temperatures hit triple digits their leaves turned brown & fell off. After lots of watering they came back. Now with cooler temperatures and 14 inches of rain they are still losing leaves and struggling to survive! I live in Granbury at Pecan Plantation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am so sad! Thank you
Paula Tumlinson

Answer 1

With what I see and from what you have told me… This looks like an infection likely brought about by overwatering.

It responded to the watering well at first, but this is when you should let it take all of that water in before getting wet again. Since it does not have as many leaves, it can not evaporate water near as quickly.

If the soil remains wet for too long, it will be a perfect breeding ground for infections. Combine this with the cooling off, and you have the perfect conditions for an infection to establish.

Since this plant is somewhat hardy, I think that by spring it will come back just fine. You will need to help it along though.

The way that I recondition infected soil is by using dolomitic lime and wettable sulfur together. This will kill off the infection, and recondition the soil back to a more suitable condition for the shrub, and not the infection.

This article will give you more information on the care of these: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/viburnum/japanese-snowball-care.htm