On 30/4/07 14:39, in article
, "Badbark"
wrote:

I have just tried my first bit of gardening and I think I've managed
to kill 6 pyracantha shrubs within a week. I have recently moved house
and have my first ever garden. For a bit of protection I have planted
6 orange glow pyracantha but they all appear to be dying. They were
all about 2 years old with 2-4 branches each about 30cms high. The
shrubs are in the sun most of the day. I only planted them a week ago
but within days I noticed leaves yellowing and starting to fall off. A
few are worse than others. I've done a bit of research and found that
I have made plenty of mistakes

I dug the holes about twice the size of the roots. I put a layer of
compost down in the hole but then made my first mistake. I didn't
untangle the roots in anyway after taking it out of the pot. I set
them pot shaped on top of the compost.

A lot of people don't untangle roots because they fear causing damage to
them. My husband is one of those and he only teases out *very* potbound
roots and then v. carefully and lightly.

The soil that I removed was
extremely stoney so I ended up putting between 40%-80% multi purpose
compost back into each hole mixed with the soil. I presume that this
may be too much and I should have used topsoil? I put some wood chip
mulch down around the base of plants to keep the moisture in and there
has been plenty of rain in the last week.

Did you water them despite the rain? I don't know where you live but it has
been extremely dry and all new planting has required regular watering. The
other possibilities are that the compost has OTOH, not drained well enough
and the plants are drowning. For future reference, wood chip is a mixed
blessing because, as it rots down, it leaches nutrients from the soil. I
don't think that this could be the case so quickly with your plants though.

I didn't add any plant food initially until I noticed the leaves
yellowing and falling off. After I noticed how yellow they were
getting I went and got some miracle grow which I added 6 days after
planting (yesterday). Every plant has lost many (10%-30%) leaves and
about 80% of the surviving leaves have a slight yellowing. Is there
any hope for these? Is there anything I can do at this stage? Thanks
for any help.

I think I'd be inclined to take one up and see how dry/wet the compost is
and act accordingly, either watering them every evening or putting some
stones mixed with the compost to allow for drainage. I don't think the
amount of compost you used is a problem because after all, people grow
plants in pots filled with only compost. I think your problem is going to
be either too wet or too dry, *possibly* compounded by the wood chip. It
would also be worth checking the roots of the one you dig up for vine weevil
larvae http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...vineweevil.asp
If, by any chance you do find the larvae, dig up all the plants, put them in
a sealed plastic sack and take them back to wherever you got them from and
ask for your money back, not new plants! I think this is unlikely though,
as the plants were healthy two year olds when you bought them.
BTW, the general rule is never feed a sick plant because it stresses it
further.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
Devon County Show 17-19 May
http://www.devoncountyshow.co.uk/