Can you tell me why 2 shrubs 3 yrs old and along way apart started to shoot but now the shoots have turned brown and died. Ive scraped a little of the bark from different places and there's no green showing at all. One is the oak leaf hydranger and the other a field maple. This has also happened to a clematis. All the perennials and other shrubs near them are fine.

Hi galest, what part of the world are you in ?

To be quite honest, as a gardener myself, I can't really tell you what has happened to your plants, but you test for signs of life the same way I do; by scratching a small portion of the stem.

I think if you know these plants are truly dead, you should pull them up and take a good look at the root system so it doesn't happen again in the same area where they are growing. Could it have been cut worm ?

Ms tickle

Hello Im in Hungary and the shrubs are at least 500ft apart with the clematis between. Apart from the clematis which is definitely dead I don't really know about the 2 shrubs because 5 weeks ago they were shooting just as you wld expect at this time of the year then as I said all the shoots just died so it doesn't make sense that the whole plant cld die in such a short time as both shrubs were around 5ft high. Anyway I've decided to leave them for another month as some plants do behave very strange here - they will just disappear for a whole year then come back healthy. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Galest

One gardener to another,almost a world part, please let me know in a month how they do. Yes, I have found that too. Who can explain it but when I know a plant is gone, it is gone and gets pulled up and onto the compost pile. My mom would have done the same as you, waited a while to see what happens.

In my part of the world, spring is late, a bit of snow still in southeast Ontario and very chilly damp atmosphere. My tulips are very slow this year.

Good luck with your garden, galest.

ms. tickle

Hello tickle yes I will let you know what happens. I have a tendency to sometimes dig things up maybe too soon but as these are so big and it wld drive my potty looking at the big gaps left I'm going to try and be a patience. Here its very hot and the soil is like dust which doesn't usually happen till around June. My tulips have just finished and some of the roses are showing their flower buds. Where you are sounds abit too cold for me but it wld save on watering the new plants. Enjoy yr garden and will be in contact.
Galest