What are these shrubs?

[CEH]

We have a number of these shrubs along the garden fences. I have trimmed them, but 2 or 3 are either dying of quite sick. The house has been leased and the shrubs may not have been watered. I'd like to know what they are as we'll probably have to replace some.

The photo is a very large one in the front garden

Any advice will be very welcome.

CEH

[BradN]

Hi @CEH . I suspect that that bush is some kind of native Westringia, also known as coastal rosemary.

Is that photo of one of the plants that you think is sick? It looks OK to me. As bushy plants grow they tend to drop the leaves on the branches inside the bush. The leaves inside the bush don't get any sunlight so they're no use to the plant.

When you trim a bush or hedge you will typically expose bare branches inside the plant, so it will look a bit bare or even sick but new growth should green it up again fairly quickly, especially in the warmer months.

Do you have any other photos you can share with us? I'll also tag our garden experts @Noelle and @Adam_W to see if they have any thoughts.

Cheers,

Brad

[Adam_W]

Hi @CEH .
@BradN is spot-on, it is a westringia.
Thing is they are very, very hardy, that's why landscapers love them. They do take to pruning reasonably well although I would hesitate to cut larger plants back too hard.
If they are well established, as they seem to be from that one, they really shouldn't need additional watering unless you are in extremely hot and dry conditions.
On the flip-side, they don't like having wet feet and that can kill them.
You shouldn't have any trouble finding replacements for them.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @CEH,

If you can post some more images showing the issues you're experiencing, I trust our members will be able to offer some more advice. As @Brad mentioned, from that picture, the plant looks quite healthy.

I'll be looking forward to assisting further.

Mitchell

[CEH]

Hi @BradN -- attached are 3 photos. I watered the hedge shrubs yesterday, so I can't tell if the soil is too wet. This hedge is about 3 metres from an artificial lake and maybe1.5-2 metres above the lake water level. So I don't think that would have any influence. Before I watered the ground looked quite dry.

lake lake

[MitchellMc]

Thanks for the additional images @CEH. They certainly don't look very happy. Let me mention @BradN, @Adam_W and @Noelle to get their thoughts.

Mitchell

[BradN]

Hi Mitchell, hi @CEH . I don't know what's happening there, but following on from Adam's point about Westringia needing good drainage / not liking wet feet, I wonder if it's to do with the soil having become too wet and heavy.

Could you maybe push a thin bamboo stake several inches deep into a part of the bed not too close to the base of the plant? If there's any damp soil clinging to the stake when you pull it out, that would indicate that the soil is wet, which the Westringia probably won't like.

Has the area had lots of heavy rain or any flooding this year? Even if the soil is dry again now, it might have been an earlier rain/flood event that injured the plants. Has the level of the lake risen after all the rain this year? If so, could that be keeping the surrounding soil wet? I don't know, but those are questions that spring to mind.

I hope someone else can provide a bit more insight...

Brad 

[Glockers]

we had that and it was because they had wet feet

[CEH]

Hi @BradN - I don't have any bamboo stakes but I have thin metal rod about 75cm long. At several of the sick shrubs there was quite a lot of dry resistance for maybe 10cm but then it slid in smoothly and easily for at least 30cm, and the rod had moist grey/black soil on the bottom 15-20cm. Last winter there was quite a lot of rain, but I don't think the lake came up much - it seems self regulating, but I'll ask. I should mention that there are two shrubs in the hedge that I think would have been dead for more than a year or two - the remaining branches are very bare and dry, very dead looking.

If this is the problem, as it seems to be, I guess there is no way of saving the sick bushes.

[BradN]

Hi @CEH , Given what you and Adam have said and the experience that @Glockers has had, I suspect that wet soil might be the problem. Perhaps @Adam_W or @Noelle might have more insight given the new information and photos you've supplied.

If I were you I would immediately stop watering them and see if any of them come good on their own. If you want to plant more Westringia to replace the dead ones, I would suggest raising that part of the garden bed to promote better drainage. But then you would need to be careful that you don't end up with new soil washing off and piling up around the stems of the healthy plants because that can cause collar rot.

Cheers,

Brad