"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2013-04-15 13:33:49 +0100, Ragnar said:

Look at this poor skimmia in my garden
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...t=d irectlink
Looks like three separate plants but it's all one plant. The right hand
branch has some yellowish leaves and some rather blotchy. Leaves on the
middle section have a nice reddish flush but are a bit limp. The left
hand side is dried and limp but not dead.
Soil is fairly neutral and the plant is in medium shade.
What's wrong?
R. :-(

I don't know how old yours is but it looks quite young. In older plants,
it seems to be something that happens to Skimmia after a few years. It's
not invariable but I have noticed it happen to a few. But has it been
dried out (unlikely, given the recent weather!) and has the soil been
trampled so as to damage the roots, perhaps? Is it possible something had
burrowed under the roots or that it's been caught by weed killer spray
drift?
--

Sacha

Thank you Sacha. Not particularly young but not old either. It has had
similar problems for three years now. I am suspicious that Phytophthora may
have got into the garden but Skimmia is not reported as particularly
vulnerable.
R.