How To Save a Dying Burning Bush?

Your burning bush is dying because there is an environmental factor causing the plant stress. Saving the plant starts with correctly identifying the exact cause of its declining health.

The most common causes of a dying burning bush are spider mites, scale insects, caterpillars, powdery mildew and environmental stress.

In this article, we will discuss the different reasons your burning bush may be dying, and how to save it.

Why is my burning bush dying?

Spider mites

These insects are one of the most common and most damaging pests on burning bushes. One of the signs of a spider mite infestation is if your bush turns red prematurely. This early change in color is due to the stress from feeding mites. There will also be leaf drop and browning of the plant’s foliage. These insects feed on the underside of the plant’s leaves which means they are hard to spot, especially in the early stages of an infestation. When the infestation becomes more severe, you may be able to spot webs on your bush.

One way of ascertaining that you have spider mites is to hold a piece of white paper under a branch of the bush and then shake the branch. Mites will fall into the paper if they are present.

To get rid of the spider mites, spray the bush with a steady stream of water from your garden hose. The water will dislodge the mites from the leaves. If the water is unable to remove all of the mites, you can use miticides or neem oil to treat the bush.

Scale insects

Just like spider mites, scale insects also stress the burning bush by feeding on it. Large enough infestations can lead to yellowing or browning of the leaves, as well as leaf drop. This damage makes the infested bush vulnerable to winter injury.

Save your burning bush by making sure you water it regularly and remove any foliage that has been damaged by the insects.

Use neem oil to treat the plant. If your burning bush is planted in a pot or a container, move it away from your other plants and isolate it so that the infestation does not spread to your other healthy plants.

Caterpillars

Euonymus caterpillars may not be as common as the other pests, but even a small number of these bugs can cause the leaves of the burning bush to fall off.

The caterpillars will start at the tips of the branches and make their way inwards. They can infest entire shrubs in very little time. Larvae that hatched the previous summer are the ones that are causing the damage, while the larvae that have just hatched will feed on the bush during the summer of the next year.

Remove these caterpillars by pruning off their webbing and the caterpillars themselves. Most insecticides can be used to get rid of caterpillars.

Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew will appear as a gray substance on the foliage of the burning bush. Once it has spread across the leaves, it can be quite difficult to control.

Save the burning bush by removing any and all affected foliage to stop the spread. Using a fungicide may not remove the current infection, but it may be able to protect new growth from powdery mildew.

Environmental stress

Changes in the living conditions of the burning bush can also cause adverse effects on your plant. Stress can cause leaf drop and complete defoliation.

Examples of environmental stressors include moisture and temperature stress. Cold injury can occur when temperatures are too low, and the roots of the plant can rot when there is too much moisture in the soil.

How do you care for a burning bush?

Soil

Burning bush can grow in most types of soil, as long as it is not constantly soggy. The soil has to be well-draining with a moderate moisture level. Soil that holds onto moisture too well can cause root rot.

These plants like their soil a little acidic but will manage fine in neutral or alkaline soil.

Light

Give the shrub six to eight hours of full sunlight every day. In the warmer months, the burning bush likes a partially shady area, especially during the intense afternoon sun. If the bush gets the right amount of sunlight, the color of its leaves will be a lot brighter in the fall.

Water

Burning bush plants do quite well in low-water situations and may even be able to tolerate drought if their roots are well-established.

Water your burning bush according to the climate where you live. If it is raining constantly you may do away with watering for a while, but if the weather is dry you may need to water the bush more frequently than normal.

When watering, aim the hose at the ground under the bush and not from above the leaves. Spraying water from above can cause pests and spores to spread to other nearby plants. When your plant’s leaves are always wet, it can also lead to a host of fungal problems.

How do you prune a burning bush?

While pruning may not be necessary for your burning bush, it does have a handful of benefits for the plant. If you do not prune the bush, it will simply grow out and be healthy, but if you want to prune it to shape it or to control its growth, it is perfectly fine to do so.

You can also prune the bush if a branch is damaged due to disease or pests, or if there is a branch disrupting the bush’s symmetry. Try not to prune the bush two months before the start of the first frost, because any new growth from that area may end up being damaged by a freeze.

To thin the bush out, use a pair of hand pruners to remove a third of the old branches. This helps keep the growth of the bush manageable. You can encourage a more tree-like aesthetic by removing the lower branches over time.

You can shear the bush using hedge clippers to shape it into a hedge. Make the top narrower than the bottom so that light can still reach the inside of the bush.

You can also do rejuvenation pruning, by removing almost the entire bush and only leaving about six inches to a foot of the plant. This method may be scary and you might think the bush will not be able to recover, but as long as you keep the plant healthy, it will grow out in time.

Conclusion

If your burning bush is dying, it is because there are environmental factors causing it stress. This stress presents itself as yellowing or browning of the foliage, leaf drop, or complete defoliation of the bush. The first and most important step in saving the burning bush is to correctly identify the cause of the stress.