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Umgowa Roswell, GA Jun 06, 2010

I have a walkway up to my front door. Attached is a photo taken from my front door looking away. You'll notice all the shrubs on the right are under an overhang. Right in the center of that line of shrubs, under the overhang I have two camellias that constantly get brown and die on me. I replace them and the new ones just die. All the other shrubs and camellias along this path on both sides do fine. I wonder if that spot just isn't getting enough water because of the overhang. I do not like sticking my finger in the soil to tell if there's enough moisture (that does not work for me) and I would dearly love to get a hydrometer I saw at the store for $9.00. Before I get it, does anyone have any ideas on why these camellias in this one spot keep dying?

Thumbnail by Umgowa
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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 06, 2010

It could be lack of water--pay attention next time it rains to which parts of the bed get wet. If that area stays very dry, then I would make sure to give that area some extra water to make up for what it's not getting from the rain. Or it could be that the soil there is too alkaline--camellias like acid soil, and if you have a cement foundation they tend to leach lime into the soil right next to the foundation, so the pH could be too high for them to do well.

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Ret_Sgt_Yates Sparta , TN(Zone 7a) Jun 06, 2010

Umgowa,

It appears the downspout is feeding the water to the bigger plants and the smaller plants are not getting the same amount of water. Try putting rain tube on the end of the down spout its like a soaker hose for the down spout you can run it back through the bed and water the entire bed . hope this helps.

The Sarg.

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JulieQ Bella Vista, AR(Zone 6b) Jun 06, 2010

What a nice, shady-looking area. So green and cool.
I have a similar situation in the back of my house and I discovered an old drain pipe a few inches below ground in a problem area.
Could you possibly have old pipes or even perhaps extra "fill" or concrete under that area? Although you would have most likely found it by now....

Good luck. I hate for you to keep losing camellias. They are gorgeous plants. And not cheap. haha

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tathib Eunice, LA Jun 07, 2010

Does it get enough sun?

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