Forsythia dying

[wanda1950]

Thinking of this because it's time for it to bloom soon.

We've had a beautiful row of forsythia for years but in the last two years about half of it has died. I thought it was almost eternal. Are others having problems? Anyone know what could be wrong. It just seems to get punier & punier until it's gone. We have pruned it some but not severely at all as we like it more bushy.

[How Do I]

In what type of location are the plants? Could be Phytophthora. That can get a foothold in soil that doesn't drain well.

[frankva]

Did some other tree grow and shade it?

[ronbre]

I'd chop them down to the ground, fertilize them and set some of the prunings into cuttings just in case..

[soulsurvivor]

I love old forsythia but it's dying out around here too. Our next door neighbor had a full row across the back of his acreage and it's all gone except for 2 bushes. The oldest plant I've got is a clematis at the mailbox that's been there since we moved here in 82. It's always been so hardy, growing under the asphalt of the road and trailing around the mailbox. Not now. For the first time last year it didn't produce a bloom. I lost my black iris too. I tend to think these old varieties must be on some kind of a time cycle and suicide themselves.

[wanda1950]

Thanks for the replies--I'm afraid our last two are goners. I think we'll try cutting them down. How do you root them? I've been told to just stick a twig into the ground but it's never worked.

They are beside the little road we live on & I think the drainage is pretty good.

[Sanza]

Could it be just plain old age?
Maybe it's stress from dry conditions (sorry I don't know if your area suffered from drought or not) and it's going into the dormant stage without the proper nutrients stored in it's roots?

I know I've lost a few trees and shrubs from our dry years because I thought the rain was adquate enough.

[TnMtngirl]

I just pull a branch close to the ground & lay a rock on it,started several this way year before last.
Can send you one if you would like me too

[sunflower-n-ks]

Forsythia can get a ___ ?? (can't remember what it is and no time to look it up) that makes a bulge on the stems. Some kind of parisite, I think. It will kill them. Not long before I moved, the ones I had in town and babied into a huge privacy fence started getting those so I didn't even try to move a start so I would not bring the negative with them. Check the stems for anything that doesn't look right. Just remembered, I think, "gulls"??

[sunflower-n-ks]

So, I remembered close to what it was. Search "Forsythia Galls Disease", and there are lots of sites to read. My computer would not copy the link, sorry.