Question
Good morning, i was given a tree gardenia 6 months ago and when it needed repotting my husband potted it into the garden... It seemed to thrive foe about a month and then i noticed it was under stress.. it leaves started yellowing and dropping off..I gave it seasol and lime as well as epsom salts.. i think  the biggest mistake i did was also giving it osmocaoat.. all a week a part.. Then i noticed a small amount of cobwebs.. and it deteriorated further , leaves turning brown and starting to curl.. not knowing what to do i visited a hardware and was given white oil spray which i have just used yesterday... I also moved it yesterday and the root system looked healthy and not overly wet...I moved it as it was in full sun all day and when it was windy i realised too late it may have been burning the leaves....As we are in flowerdale and there is not much shade and the requirements after the 2009 fires no trees were to be close to the house when we rebuilt i have no shady place to place the plant... I have replanted it with other gardenias and dahne and smaller growing plants.. My question is can i prune the gardenia now as all the leaves are unhealthy and will the sickness be transfered to the other plants, if so can i do a preventative measure.. The Gardenia tree was a gift so i would like to save it if i could..........When i dug it up i notices small white balls on the roots, is the osmocoat when it was used .. Many thanks for looking at my question....

Answer
Yvonne,
1. Gardenias like temperatures 60 to 80 degrees...Above or below that they will not do well...I'm not sure what your year round temps are?..I am in New Jersey,USA (Zone 6-7#...Here they need to be brought inside during the colder months...Full sun #other than a morning sun exposure# is not recommended...Move it towards where it will only get the morning sun and afternoon shade...

2. They also like acidic soils...Use an acid plant fertilizer #like Miracid, Hollytone or similar type that can be found at your local garden center#...Be careful using lime as it will raise the soil pH and make the soil more alkaline...

3. I think your main problem is correct watering of a gardenia outdoors...What were the directions on the label of the osmocote?..I doubt if that is the problem...Plants die from too frequent waterings, not from how much water you give them at one time...Also letting them go too dry between waterings causes wilting and can attract insect problems...The small amount of cob-webbing indicates spider mites could be a problem...Too dry plants will attract them...They can spread to your other plants, so check them for the webbing also...The oil spray may kill the spider mites and or the egg cases...Do visit a local garden center...Take a cutting or leaf that has the webbing in a plastic bag so they can ID it...

Pruning should be done after summer heat is gone or before it arrives...Always leave some leaves on branches unless you are pruning the whole branch off...Usually yellow leaves will fall off just by pushing on them lightly...I would leave all leaves that have green on them until you can resolve the main problem #watering and spider mites)...

The small white balls on the roots are probably perlite, a soil additive to aid in soil retention and drainage...

Hope I answered all your questions...If you have more just add them to your reply...

Rick in southern New Jersey