Question
My husband planted 7 Burning Bushes in our front yard approximately two months ago in May (2009).  At first they seem to be doing fine with healthy green leaves...then about a month ago, 5 of them have leaves that have turned brown and have become very dry and brittle.  My husband said they are not completely dead because you can bend the stems/branches and they are still green on the inside of them.  He put mulch around them after building a "flower box" with landscaping timbers around them (this was done a few weeks ago) and now they are looking horrible.  We do not have very good soil....it's a clay-type soil and is somewhat "rocky".  Do you have any suggestions as to what may be causing them to be "dying"???!!!

Answer
Dear Virginia

Thank you for your question.

Generally Dictamus (burning bush) is a trouble free plant from a pest/disease point of view, but it does need drained soil.  

I think your soil may be the problem here - clay soil is not at all well draining when it is wet - when it rains the water will collect in the planting hole making a mini-pond which will drown your plants, and when you have a dry spell the clay will dry out into rock hard lumps which wont hold onto water at all, i.e. it becomes too well draning, so the plants starve!

The really major problem with Dictamus is that they don't like being moved once they settle in. I think you may have to start again with new plants, because I think that those which are at present showing signs of life may not survive a move.

If you do decide to start again there are things you can do to improve the plants' chances of surviving:

Dig nice big holes; loosen the clay 'pan' at the bottom of the hole and put plenty of horticultural grit down and fork it in;

Put a 3-4 inch layer of good garden compost over the grit/soil mix;

Incorporate grit and compost into the spoil from the holes;

Put 1 plant to each hole and back-fill with the grit/compost mix, firming the plant in with your heel (gently) as you go;

Immediately the Dictamus are planted water them well - this will wash the planting mix down around the roots giving the plants the best chance of taking up nutrients quickly.

Your 'flower box' is a great idea, but you will still have to treat the underlying clay as described above to get the best out of your plants.