Ailing Korean Spicebush

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Apr 02, 2008

Anybody know what the problem is here? Half of my Korean Spicebush, which I love, has shredded trunks/stems ... is this normal? Here's one of two pictures

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Apr 02, 2008

This is after a particularly wet winter. But it still seems to have buds on these branches ... I just want to know if it's a spreading thing or what ...

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bigcityal Appleton, WI(Zone 5a) Apr 02, 2008

Not borers favorite viburnum, but does it have any frass or trails in the remains?

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Apr 02, 2008

I'll have to look when I'm there this weekend -- I didn't notice anything like that when I was looking ... and the damage is also on some of the smaller higher branches ... just looks like the bark is peeling away and the wood shredding ...

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ViburnumValley Scott County, KY(Zone 5b) Apr 03, 2008

Not normal at all - except for dead or nearly dead stems!

I can think of three possibilities - none of which you can resolve other than pruning out the stems that will no longer perform.

•Some kind of borer, as bigcityal mentions
•Some kind of canker, which is also uncommon under normal conditions
•Winter rodent feeding/gnawing, which could result in damage like this noticed a year later (since there appears to be some callusing of some of the wounds)

I'd prune out the worst branch, and submit it for pathology testing through your local Cooperative Extension Service. Then you'll know if it is contagious or not.

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Apr 06, 2008

It does seem to be spreading to the healthier looking half of the bush ... there was some rodent gnawing on the roots because there's a hole next to the plant, although I've had other bushes that were so eaten they were loose in the ground and they never got anything like this (and they recovered) ... I'd have to cut off half the plant to get the worst of it ... geesh. The only other thing I can think of is the unusually wet winter.

I inspected it yesterday and don't see trails or frass ... it's so shredded I don't know if I could see anything anyway ...

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) May 20, 2008

Well, I guess I've lost the entire bush ... there's only one healthy looking tiny branch left and it's growing out of a trunk that's disintegrating ... I have no idea what happened ...

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