Ceanothus / californian lilac dying?

[Sert09]

Hi everyone,
I recently planted several Ceanothus at the back of my garden (UK), but one of them is not doing well. It's dropping a lot of leaves, especially from the lower parts of the plant, although the top seems to be slightly healthier.

I’ve attached photos of:

• The whole struggling plant
• Close-ups of the leaves and branches
• A healthy Ceanothus right next to it for comparison

They all get roughly the same amount of (full) sun and water, so I’m puzzled about what might be going wrong with this one.

Any ideas on what could be causing this or how I might help it recover? I'd really appreciate your insights. Thanks in advance!

 

[oneeye]

Remove all the dead leaves and hand cultivate the soil around the base of the plant. Dig down beside the plant about hand deep and feel the soil. It looks like a water management issue. When a plant starts to lose its bottom leaves its because the older leaves are giving the young leaves their water due to thirst.

 

[cpp gardener]

That one may have been planted “deeper” than the others. Remove any native soil above the container soil, on all of them. They are very sensitive to having their crown covered and to being moist all the time. If possible, allow them to dry out more between waterings. If it’s just rainy, try to drain excess surface water away from them. There is a product called Actinovate that helps with crown rot issues, see if you can get it there.