Oh dear Dreeny. I wonder what is wrong with them. Certainly it could be frost damage. Mine are very much damaged. But holes? Could just be something nibbling at the leaves of course. I wouldn't spray if I were you. I would prune them a bit and see if they regrow. They generally don't mind a bit of a prune. Such a shame, they are such lovely plants and ususally quite hardy but this year....well....it's all been said many times...sigh! Oh, and perhaps a bit of a feed too?

Thanks for that Karen,
I do hope you are right about the spraying because with high bushes like this it tends to blow back on you. From as far as I can see most of the damage appears to be just on the lower part of both. I did begin to remove some of the worst affected the other day but there is rather a lot of it, perhaps I should try to get a pix of it.

Like you mention this has been a bad year with all THAT snow and walking around the garden back and front, and with everything bursting into life, I can see plants that havn,t made it. Fortunately they are smallish including 4 Hebe's, a small low shrub whose leaves look
like Choiysia, but it is not, 2 exotic plants with strappy leaves, a Cordylyne,a Ceanothus, 1 Lavender and a small tree from which hung strappy leaves, another exotic which made it through the 2009 snow and ice but not 2010. Mine is an inherited garden which I why I do not know the names of everything exactly.

Next year I must bow to Mother Nature I guess and cover up plants that might suffer.

Sounds like viburnum larve in the spring and the Viburnum beetle in the autumn,the leave's will look like they have shotgun holes and a smell like dog poo, spray in spring for the larve and again in the autumn for the beetle , or if you can see the critters squash them but hard to see

Now that is really really helpful Jiffy. I have often wondered why my viburnums are smelling like dog poo!! I don't have holes that I have noticed. Do you know what kind of spray to use please. I was just thinking when I read Dreeny's reply that it doesn't sound like frost damage if it's near the bottom of the plant rather than the top! Thanks ever so much, I've learned something new and important! :))

I'm using Provado ultimate bug killer
I do'nt like using chemicals but they have eaten alot of leaves last year, was a nice hedge (50 foot)
Google Viburnum beetle and there are pic there of the larve/beetle
I've just sprayed the main stems of the hedge to cacht them early?? it may be to early, but i'am keeping eyes open to see the larve going up the main stems

I have never seen one Jiffy, but two viburnum that I have bought from my local GC lately both stank. I assumed it was something they had sprayed the plants with! ironic that!

I am grateful for all the responses re: Viburnum. It is clear to me now what is causing the problem. However, I have to say I havn't noticed any smell "dog-poo" or otherwise, I suppose I should consider myself lucky.

dreeny8

:) indeed, I have definitely smelled it on mine dreeny!

I'll check again tomorrow Karen when I go out for my morning gardening session ... have a good sniff!

Ugh, you won't repeat the exercise Dreeny.....;))

I'll let you know Karen, if I'm not unconcious

some day's it smells some days it do'nt, it dos smell more on damp day

well it will be positively honking here then Jiffy as it hasn't stopped raining at all since Friday!

nice and sunny here but 50 foot hedge smelling it's nice,
when poeple say what's that smell i say it's my afthershave lol

Hi Karen et al.
Well, I investigated my suffering Viburnum this morning and there are a lot of Larvae on the backs of the effected leaves ... a lot of those ... however, I could not
detect a smell of any kind.

Dreeny8

all very interesting, as I too have a viburnum tinis [about 10 feet in height] that I would be loth to lose, and wondered about all the holes in the leaves when we arrived here 3 years ago. OH took out a third of the branches, cleared the ivy from beneath it and gave it a feed in Spring every year, and it has been fine ever since.
However will look out for a spray in the GC just in case.

Hello Freesabird.
We too have lived here 3 years but I do not remember anything wrong with it then. I feel I should remove the damaged or holey leaves but there are so many that is somewhat daunting. However, I have sprayed it with Bayer Ultimate Bug for now so will let that settle and
trim it later when the flowers have finished perhaps.

Dreeny8