I spent most of yesterday digging out an old Ceanothus bush that had
suddenly taken a turn for the worst. Half of it died back a month ago
and was pruned and burnt. The cuts showed a red orange ring in the
diseased wood.

The rest of it succumbed in a matter of a few days from healthy
looking green bushy plant to distinctly dead. It seems they are
succeptible to verticillium wilts. What other shrubby plants should I
not plant back in the large border ap where this came from, and how
deep should I dig out for the old roots?

There is a mushroomy smell and white hyphae in another part of the
same border, but AFAICT a clear space between that and the affected
bush. I don't really know much about these fungal diseases of plants.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
oups.com...
I spent most of yesterday digging out an old Ceanothus bush that had
suddenly taken a turn for the worst. Half of it died back a month ago
and was pruned and burnt. The cuts showed a red orange ring in the
diseased wood.

The rest of it succumbed in a matter of a few days from healthy
looking green bushy plant to distinctly dead. It seems they are
succeptible to verticillium wilts. What other shrubby plants should I
not plant back in the large border ap where this came from, and how
deep should I dig out for the old roots?

There is a mushroomy smell and white hyphae in another part of the
same border, but AFAICT a clear space between that and the affected
bush. I don't really know much about these fungal diseases of plants.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Don't panic! Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cultivars

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Steve

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:


"Martin Brown" wrote in message
oups.com...
I spent most of yesterday digging out an old Ceanothus bush that had
suddenly taken a turn for the worst. Half of it died back a month ago
and was pruned and burnt. The cuts showed a red orange ring in the
diseased wood.

The rest of it succumbed in a matter of a few days from healthy
looking green bushy plant to distinctly dead. It seems they are
succeptible to verticillium wilts. What other shrubby plants should I
not plant back in the large border ap where this came from, and how
deep should I dig out for the old roots?

There is a mushroomy smell and white hyphae in another part of the
same border, but AFAICT a clear space between that and the affected
bush. I don't really know much about these fungal diseases of plants.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Don't panic! Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.


Verticillium is a controversial subject. Opinion is divided as to whether it remains in the
soil to infect further plantings.

Your plant sounds like it does show signs. You can make a angled cut and look
for characteristic streaking in the wood. Make sure to sterilize your tools after.

As a maple collector I deal with Verticillium on a regular basis. But especially in
the Acer palmatum world, it is very common to buy infected plants. (In fact
it is sometimes difficult to find clean plants even from the most reliable producers,
because the parents don't have enough clean wood). Further, the consensus
among maple people seems to be that the "sudden" form of the wilt isn't
transmissible by the soil (although the slow form may be).

So I don't hesitate to replace with a maple when I lose one in the ground to
the wilt. What I do find is that culture conditions, like poor drainage, do as
much to encourage the verticillium already present in the plants as much as
anything. So sometimes if I'm really having a hard time in a spot I change
species. For example in one spot I have already killed 3 palmatums and a
very rare A. olivaceum, this year I'll put in campestre 'Carnival'.

-E


--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Sep 10, 2:24 pm, Steve Wolstenholme
wrote:
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"

wrote:
Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Dunno exactly. This one was more than 20 years old, maybe 25 years.

According to some websites there is a slow burning fungal infection
that kills them all eventually. I was a bit concerned at the rapidity
of its demise and was worried that it might infect other things in the
border.

There is a lovely daphne odora not too far away and I would hate to
lose that the same way.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to
affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Steve

If the going is easy and they have grown quickly they tend to go quicker but
even in dry ground 15 is getting to old age, the one exception I have
noticed is Ceanothus Trewithian Blue which is a big tree like plant and you
do seem to be able to cut this back hard and prolong its life somewhat.

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cultivars

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 10, 2:24 pm, Steve Wolstenholme
wrote:
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"

wrote:
Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to
affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing
with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Dunno exactly. This one was more than 20 years old, maybe 25 years.

According to some websites there is a slow burning fungal infection
that kills them all eventually. I was a bit concerned at the rapidity
of its demise and was worried that it might infect other things in the
border.

There is a lovely daphne odora not too far away and I would hate to
lose that the same way.

Regards,
Martin Brown

When they go they tend to go quickly, sometimes a branch at a time and
usually in summer not winter, you may well be correct about the fungus, I
have never had problems even replanting ceanothus in the same spot. The only
reason I have stopped growing them is I found it hard to deal with the large
gaps left!

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cultivars

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:46:52 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to
affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Steve

If the going is easy and they have grown quickly they tend to go quicker but
even in dry ground 15 is getting to old age, the one exception I have
noticed is Ceanothus Trewithian Blue which is a big tree like plant and you
do seem to be able to cut this back hard and prolong its life somewhat.

I think that's the variety I have. It's certainly blue and tree like.
It flowers until late September and then gets cut back.

Steve
--
Stephen Wolstenholme Neural Planner Software Ltd

EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.

http://www.easynn.com

On 11/9/07 10:31, in article ,
"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote:

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:46:52 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going to
affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Steve

If the going is easy and they have grown quickly they tend to go quicker but
even in dry ground 15 is getting to old age, the one exception I have
noticed is Ceanothus Trewithian Blue which is a big tree like plant and you
do seem to be able to cut this back hard and prolong its life somewhat.

I think that's the variety I have. It's certainly blue and tree like.
It flowers until late September and then gets cut back.

Steve

The very best for colour, IMO, is C. Dark Star. It seems to be a brute to
propagate but it's the most gorgeous indigo blue.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:56:04 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Ceanothus do just die when they reach a certain age and
although the cause may well be fungal it is not necessaraly going
to
affect
anything else, clear the ground revitilise the soil and if
replacing with
another evergreen wait till spring.

Any idea what the "certain age" is?

I've had one for about 15 years.

Steve

If the going is easy and they have grown quickly they tend to go
quicker but
even in dry ground 15 is getting to old age, the one exception I
have
noticed is Ceanothus Trewithian Blue which is a big tree like plant
and you
do seem to be able to cut this back hard and prolong its life
somewhat.
Last time I went to Powys Castle (about 7 or 8 years ago) there was a
Trewithian Blue, said to be around 70 yrs old there - and it looked
every day of it, not really very pretty. Otherwise my experience is
like everybody else's, they don't really make old bones.
--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp