Pink flowering almond bush dying.

I live in the northwest corner of Arkansas and have pink flowering almonds bushes that have been there for 2.5 years. I pruned them in the spring just after they bloomed. I ave been watering them regularly during the hot and dry periods. Then, a couple weeks ago, I noticed that one of the three bushes had a dead branch on it. Now, it has spread to almost all of 1 bush with one branch each on the other two dying. I am wondering what I can do to save the plants. Can I cut the dead branches back and brill have the bushes come back next spring?

Well, dead is dead. Do cut off the dead branches. The bush will either come out of it or not. It will at least look better without the dead stuff while you are waiting to see what happens.

If this were my yard, I would believe that the damage was someone spraying herbicide in the area. I live in a rural area where spraying the fields is an integral part of weed management. I see this type of damage -- whole branches (or plants) wilting and dying within a few days of sprayers in the field. It is easy to imagine a drift flowing down between the houses, getting lots of poison on the corner plant, less on the next, etc.

If it is herbicide, the corner bush is probably a goner. The other will probably survive. A nice dose of Super Thrive and a handful of organic based fertilizer seems to increase survival rate.

I agree: the one near the corner is dead.
Prune the dead branch(es) out of the middle one, cutting well into good, healthy wood. That way the plant can heal the cut the best.

Thank you both. I went out and cut any dead stuff out this morning.
It could have been my neighbor spraying something, but there is a tree closer to their property that only has minimal wilting due to dry conditions.
I did notice, on the middle bush, that the dead branches I cut out where coming straight up from the ground (new growth this summer) as apposed to being part of the established plant. I also noticed that there is a gummy build up at the very base of the bushes. I don't know whether this is normal or not.

The glyphosate type herbicides, like Round-up, kill by disrupting an enzyme necessary for plant growth -- hence actively growing plants are the most susceptible.

Your immediate neighbor is not necessarily the culprit. Depending upon the wind, airflow, and how the stuff was applied, it could have been several blocks away.

To better understand at least the principals of drift, think about how helium balloons move so far from where you let them go. An aerosol of the herbicide moves a lot like a helium balloon that is going flat, but still has enough loft to mostly stay off the ground, bouncing/bobbing along as the wind takes it.

Looks bad :( Sorry.

Could be herbicide or a disease like phytophthora.

Agree cut off the dead branches back to green wood and hope for the best.

This message was edited Oct 4, 2013 4:38 PM