Is the neighbor killing my acuba ?

[robb]

I have a row of acuba about 5 ft tall and 3-4 ft wide stretching along **my side** of **my** hurricane fence between me and the neighbor. The same stretch of acuba continues around fence corner and along the back fence and i have another patch of 6 - 6 ft tall acuba bushes next to a patio providing some privacy from the side neighbor.

Several months ago about 3 of the very heavily grown Acuba patches at the front or beginning of the run along the side fence started wilting on the top, then they kind of recovered over several months , then they started wilting again about a month ago and they have steadily gone black but not all over. Just some of the stalks have died and the ones that have not died seem to be just the ones that are more on my yard's side.

I first thought disease, pests or drought but none of the other Acuba bushes in my yard have wilted.

Is there a way to check if the bushes have been treated with weed kill etc .. or maybe there is some other method of making them sick to check for ?

helpful replies appreciated. robb

[aemeijers]

Next time you see neighbor in the back yard, ask them if they have been spraying anything near the fence line. They may not have even been aware they were putting your plants in danger, especially if they were using one of those screw-on-the-end-of-the-hose things. I'm not familiar with Acuba- do they tolerate those weed-n-feed sprays flower gardeners seem to love so much? Maybe over-fertilizing damaged them?

Do you have some reason to think the neighbor doesn't like your plants? Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by cluelessness. (Until you have reason to suspect malice, of course.)

[norminn]

What side is dying...north, south, east or west? Possibly too much sun? I did a quick Google search and found hits for "aucuba". I'm in Florida and we had a lot of plants nipped by frost a month or so ago. Some lost all of their leaves but are recovering. If you had a frost, give them a month to see if they send out new growth, then prune out the dead stuff.

[Bob F]

A former neighbor of mine had a problem with another neighbor spraying a shrub on the side of the lot they shared. A guy spraying the fruit trees asked about the injured plant, and called the state EPA, who came out and took samples. Later, they had a long talk with the offender. So, yes, such checks may work.

[gfretwell]

[robb]

[trim]

plants?

course.)

Thanks aem,

For the ideas.

Yes, i have couple of suspicions and reasons.

The neighbor purposefully (I witnessed) spray and kill a long strip/patch of bedded lavendar along my property line, when i confronted them, she claimed she thought they were just weeds.

She often frets, moans and complains about her border plants not getting enough sunlight due to my bushes and trees.

She has often offered to help pay to cut my trees (oaks) down.

I have not witnessed so i would like to have some evidence.

Thanks again robb

[robb]

[trim]

much sun?

in Florida

Some lost

give them a

dead stuff.

Thanks for the help,

It is the due west side but we have so many trees that i do not think it is too much sun.

we did have more snow and frost this year and later than normal, but i did not take note of the cause and affect of the cold nor our monsoons we have had recently as well.

thanks, robb

[robb]

[trim]

spraying a shrub

trees asked about

took samples.

checks may work.

thanks, I'll look into anysuch service then. robb

[robb]

[trim]

Thanks G.

I will inspect the plant for all those malladies.

thanks robb

[norminn]

Your neighbor sounds like a gem :o) Hope for your sake that the plants haven't been sabotaged. If she is a good gardener, perhaps the next discussion of your oak trees could lead to better choices for her, like azalea, rhododentron, hosta, ferns, etc :o) As for spraying with an herbicide, it has been my experience that they cause green vegetation to lose it's color and become almost white, not black.

Your description of the plants "going black" certainly sounds to me like they have a disease. I'm not at all familiar with aucuba, but prolonged snow cover can lead to or agravate mildew/fungus problems. I'd take an affected specimen to an extension agent or professional nursery for their opinion. In case of disease, you might benefit from trimming all of the affected plants and disposing of the trimmings. Experiment with a little antifungual. Mold or mildew sometimes becomes more pronounced when aphids attack and the plant is expressing sap.

[Marina]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news:O4udnYak57XDp33WnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

My former neighbor dug down into the yard and found the roots to a tree that was in my yard. Then he poured gasoline into the hole. The tree was taller than a 2 story house. One day the tree "tipped" over in a big wind. With luck, it didn't take down the utility poles/wires or kill anyone on the ground. We also found saw marks in different places on the trunk of the tree. We figured out what he did after the tree fell down. The tree was far from our house and hard to notice anything was wrong with it on a daily basis, of course until it fell down. We called the police and I saw them go to his house. The cop said his girlfriend said he wasn't home, but I know he was home cuz I saw him. I don't know what happened after that.

We also think he tried to break into our house. Finally he moved away. We found out later, he was only renting the house. When he moved he sold everything in the yard, such as the shed and the above ground pool that the landlord owned. Also some fencing he took down and sold. What a creep!