On 03/09/2011 00:17, Jo wrote:
"Chris wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Sep 2011 21:42:08 +0100, wrote:

I bought and planted a Forsythia in May. It is situated in a shady/sunny
spot and I have kep it well watered since planting. However, all the
leaves
are starting to turn brown from the tips. I originally thought it was due
to insufficient watering as only the tips of the leaves were brown, but as
time goes on, the leaves are increasingly turning brown.
Any advice?

Forsythias are deciduous, which means they shed their leaves in
autumn, which seems generally to be early this year. Yours is only
doing what comes naturally.

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

Thanks...it just seemed way too early, but could be possible.



It is early, but trees and shrubs often defoliate prematurely when
drought has stressed them. This is because they can't support all that
green growth and stay alive. Because your shrub was only planted in
May, it won't have an established root system so it is more than usually
stressed. Give it a *really* good drench, then mulch around the root
zone with good compost or bark chips to hold the moisture in and to keep
the root zone cool.

If the brown leaves are staying on the shrub rather than falling, this
can indicate other problems. Alas, this is where my senior moment kicks
in so I can't remember the cause/s :~(. Sorry. Hopefully, it is just
drought-induced defoliation.

Good luck.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay