Hamamalis mixed (chinese witch hazel)

Hello everyone,

Hoping someone may be able to help with this one..

My mother in law gave us this shrub as a moving in present.

It did well to start with, beautiful yellow flowers, and put out some buds and things.

However, the flowers all fell off (normal I think) and now the leaves are VERY limp, with a kind of rust coloured burning around the edges (not normal!)

I'm not sure whether it may be our soil - we are in Newhaven, and I thought we'd be on chalky, but the soil seems quite clay like.

Any ideas appreciated,

Polly

 

Hamamelis prefer a slightly acid soil, if your soil is alkaline you might try using a sequester of iron - although I think iron deficiency would show up as the plant having yellow-ing leaves.

 

Thanks Kristen, I think my next stop then will be to get one of those soil tester kits (and I might take a leaf down to the garden centre with me, see what they reckon)

Thanks again,

Polly

 

Not sure whether the cheapie kits are much good. If you only want a one-off testing of your soil might be better to see about sending a sample away - they would have better quality equipment, and for a one-off test perhaps it would be a similar price?

Or have a look at what grows around you - acid soil will support Rhododendrons, Azaleas and so on. If there are none nearby the chances are that your soil is Alkaline.