Need Help identifying why new plants are dying

[texmaster]

Hi there,

We have recently planted a new landscape with a variety of plants. They have been in the ground for 2 weeks and we are starting to see problems with some rose bushes. we purchased white out roses and double knockout roses. Most of the roses are fine but 2 are showing problems and we don't know why. All plants get the same amount of water through a drip feeder line and I verified it is working. Also, one of the endless summer hydrangeas lost about half its leaves in a single day and it too is concerning. All plants were given the best dirt available from a local organic company which is where we also purchased the pecan mulch.

Here are some pictures to help.

The worst of the roses:

Second starting to fade

Hydrangea showing signs of issues

An overall shot of all three.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pat]

You may have an insect that has just found those two plants to use as dinner. All though you purchased all of the plants at the same time and from the same location does not mean they actually came from the same supplier which means the plants may have been given taken care. Good luck, it is heartbreaking to see your plants dye after you have given them so much good care. I purchased two mint plants about a month ago and both are dead all ready.

 

[Chuck]

There are some questions that have to be asked. How deep is the mulch? When you dug the holes for the plants did you fill up the dug hole with water before hand and let it completely soak the close surrounding area? When you took the plants out of the pot did you hand separate the roots slightly by hand to ensure that the roots weren't root bound? This looks like a classic example of a plant being water deprived. Sometimes when you get a plant from the nursery the roots have grown into a ball and it is just about impossible to give it adequate moisture. Just because you are on drip irrigation doesn't mean that the roots of the plants are getting proper moisture. On a thickly rooted plant it will sometimes be such a mass of roots that the water cannot penetrate. My advice is to get a sharp butcher knife and slice down one side of the plants root ball and soak thoroughly or dig up the plant and separate the roots by hand. This is not an insect problem

 

[texmaster]

Thank you both. Its been disappointing but I'm just glad I bought insurance on all our plants for 1 year. I'll dig up the really bad one and see if its root bound but I did make an effort to break up the roots before planting each one.