My husband planted these ROS hedges two years ago. They are in full sun,along a split rail fence,next to the road.They h ave never been very happy. mThis year has been worse than last. They aren't growing properly and some are much larger than others. Here are some pictures. Do you have any idea what the problem could be?
More pictures
Did you amend the soil before planting? Have they ever been fed? It looks like they could be suffering from a lack of nutrients. Is the soil they are in compacted?
Lynn
Thanks Irabec,thats what I had been thinking I know he fertilized them,but he needs to read up more on his gardening. Sometime he thinks it one thing fits all, so its no telling. I have to give closer supervision.Thanks for your response.
It wouldn't hurt to double check the watering too--yellow leaves can also be caused either by too much or too little water, and it also looks like the plant in the first picture has lost some leaves which can be another symptom of a watering problem. I'd wait until the next time you were planning to water and stick your finger down a few inches into the soil. If it still feels really wet, then you're probably watering a bit too much, but if it feels bone dry then it probably needs more. Given that they're in a lawn area, I think overwatering is probably a bit more likely than underwatering, but you never know until you check.
Can you tell us what kind of Roses was planted, are they climbing, Rambling (climbers) or what, to be honest, the foliage, stems and smooth bark dont look like any roses I have ever seen, if they are hedging roses, normally they have several to lots of stems (branches growing way down at the base of the earth, but I could be way of track on that idea.
I do agree with all the other comments regardless of what they are, that the growing conditions are not really doing any favours to the plants, being set in lawn also means the shrubs roots are competing and being starved of nutrients from the grass as grass is a gready feeder both for nutrients and water, it also prevents air and moisture retention in the soil, maybe if you do as Ecrane has suggested re finger testing the soil and you can dig larger area of grass away from the root-ball, this will help, at the same time, add some Rose or other plant fertilisers to the soil and let the rain or watering take it down to the roots, I feed my roses autumn (end of season) and again come spring, just a handfull of food around the root area will help too. It would be worth checking the foliage to make sure there is no disease or trouble on the foliage other than just poor colouration. hope you get it sorted out and you can enjoy the display you thought you would have, best of luck. WeeNel.
ROS is rose of sharon, which over here is a common name for Hibiscus syriacus.
Thanks Ecrane, no wonder I thought it looked funny type of rose, education all the way on this site eh, we call The ROSE OF SHARON Hypericum Calycinum (St Johns Wart) it has yellow flowers about June/ July thick bush and not too tall, the birds love the berries and you find seedlings all over the garden as the birds drop the seeds from the rear end, good propagation eh. hope I did not send anyone down the wrong path, but I think the growing conditions need checking out for sure. good to be back again, many thanks Ecrane. WeeNel.
Lynda,
Do you compost? If so, put some around the base of each ROS (in addition to some fertilizer for immediate help). I do that for mine and it's growing beautifully. I did amend the soil at planting though with some composted cow manure and peat moss. I also always add Miracle Grow Quick Start to the water at transplant time--it encourages strong roots. You could try watering some in now.
