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What's Wrong With My Japanese Box Wood Shrub ?
Hello... First, I have to come out of closet : I am NOT a gardener.
About 2 months, we have planted about 60 Japanese Boxwood shrubs to fill-in spaces between hardscape columns. . About 4-5 weeks ago we had few very hot days. Then, I noticed about 1/3 of the newly planted shrubs were losing its deep green color. This continues up to today - and today they look like in the posted photos: mostly colorless, but not completely dry. There are few green leaves or 1/2 green and 1/2 brown. Leaves hold on branches and are not falling off. They don't feel like dry, dead, plant. We use Miracle Grow liquid fertilizer as per instruction. Also, we used "Ironate", a mixture high in iron, as per recommendation of Home Depot expert. For the last 2 weeks, we covered them with shade cloth to block direct sun. We water judiciously, once a day, and early in the morning. It gets very hot here with strong, direct sun most of the day.
My question is: are these shrubs behind saving or did they just get burnt and need some time to recover? How do I determine they are damaged beyond control and I have to replace them ? What do I use to revive them ? Any advice and/or comment will be highly appreciated. Thank you. Milo
First Photo: overall look
Second Photo: detail of leaves