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Originally Posted by Wendyb1
I have a problem with my ceanothus, which has been deteriating over the last two years. The leaves has been slowly disappearing, and now are only on the ends of the branches, the rest of the bush being twiggy and bare. It always flowers well, and is in flower now, but after the flowers have gone it will be very bare. It is quite a large bush, which actually resembles a small tree, as it has no lower branches. Is it just a case of it being old, or is there any chance of revival? Will giving it extra feeding make any difference? Any ideas would be appreciated.
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I'd go with tried and trusted treatment. Apply a longlasting organic fertilser around but not touching the base of the bush. Water well and spread well rotted compost around the base of the plant (not touching).
The not so good news is that you have to be careful how you prune a ceanothus. It will not produce shoots from old wood. It sounds like the plant is not covered in leaf because you have a lot of old wood lower down. There's no cure for that, if you prune back hard into the old wood to revive it you will kill the plant. It's age may well have got the better of it.