Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Wednesday - May 09, 2012

From: Pflugerville, TX
Region: Select Region
Topic: Diseases and Disorders, Shrubs
Title: Replacement Yaupon holly doing poorly in Pflugerville, TX
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

I had to replace quite a few shrubs after the drought last year. I live in Austin, TX. I have planted 3 dwarf yaupon holly bushes in the exact same place where the previous three same type of shrubs lived for over 20 years. After a couple of months. These dwarf yaupon holly bushes have some green leaves, but most medium brown and dark brown leaves. Is there anything I can do to keep them from dying? Does this indicate not enough water, or too much water? Thanks!

ANSWER:

Since dwarf yaupons grew in the bed for 20 years, you would expect that new yaupons would grow in the same conditions. This assumes that the previous plants succumbed to drought and not some sort of disease. Mr. Smarty Plants is thinking that your new plants may be suffering from transplant shock.

I’m going to refer you to several sites that discuss this problem and suggest remedies. There is some overlap in the information, but the difference in approach is interesting.

Purdue University

northscaping.com TS-0011

northscaping.com TS-0012

gardeningknowhow.com

University of Kentucky