How to stop a woolly bush dying?

Hi I have 6 Woolly bushes. They have been growing in pots from little and about 3 months ago they were put in the ground to be hedge.

5 are doing really well , 1 has gone all brown and has a,white powdery coating. This one has gone off really quickly while we were away for 3 weeks. It was doing g really well line the others until it wasn't.

I have trimmed all the branches off and a Bunnings nursery member suggested mealy bug spray. I did not see any mealy bugs just a very fine white coating.

Unfortunately I cannot find my receipt for the 6 of them so can't use the 12 month guarantee. Sad, as I paid nearly $30 for each one. Anyway just wondering if I should just pull it out or do you think it may possibly reshoot. Should I give it some seasol?

Find more posts tagged with

Gardening

Planting and Growing

Comments

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @karkel. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about Wolly bushes.

It does sound like that particular Woolly Bush may have been affected by something different to the others—possibly a fungal issue like powdery mildew or even root rot if the area it's in drains poorly. The fine white coating you saw could be fungal rather than insect-related, which would explain why no mealybugs were present.

If you’ve already trimmed it back and there’s still some green in the stems, there’s a chance it could reshoot—especially if you give it some Seasol to help reduce transplant shock and encourage root health. However, if it’s completely brown all the way to the base and the stems are brittle, it may not recover.

Also, just so you know—if you paid by card and can find the date of the transaction, the team in store can easily look up and reprint your receipt. That would allow you to take advantage of our Perfect Plant Promise and potentially get a replacement.

Would you be able to share a photo of the affected plant? That could help confirm if it’s worth trying to revive. Let me know if you need a hand uploading images.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Child Item