"lowlife" wrote in message
...

hi me again, well lets work backwards. if we think the leaves belong to
a hazel or large shrub such as hibiscus, there is nothing else in the
garden like that. it's predominantly a dahlia bed, with a few other
shrubs with berries and some lilies. as you can see from the distant
photo, there's not much else there. so on that basis i think i have the
right leaves. the branches seem to be quite sparse, with other twig
branches at quite large intervals along the main branches. at the end,
or near the end of each branch there is a group of these flower head /
pod things.
there are no flowers along the main branches, only on or near the end
of the branches or offshoots. the shrub / tree is a round shape about
5ft high and about the same across.

hope that helps

--
lowlife

Everything, with the exception of that photo of the leaf, still leads me to
believe that it is Hibiscus syriacus. My hibiscus looks exactly the same as
yours at the moment, about 5 foot with open branches, seed pods on the end
of the branches, no leaves, browny-grey bark etc. It's just that photo of
the leaf that is throwing a spanner in the works.

But your original question was: "i really need to find out what this shrub
or tree is, as it has mould
on it that probably wants treating." and we've established that it's lichen,
which won't do any harm and doesn't need treating, so I think it might be a
case of sitting and waiting for the plant to flower and then we can get a
better idea of what it might be, if not Hibiscus. BTW it looks like it's
been looked after, and pruned well into a nice shape, who's done this? maybe
they remember what it looked like in summer or know what it is?

Cheers

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk