I have one that looks horrible too, almost every leaf is brown. If I have to cut it back I might as well pull it and start over. Is this common in kalmias around here? Because if it is I might have to plant the new one in a more sheltered area or something.

Also waiting for an answer...

tina

I also have damage on one I planted in spring. I planted another in the fall, on the opposite side of my driveway and suprisingly that one has no damage!? Weird, but I just want to say I've read that they do best in cold zones with winter protection (like a burlap sack filled with straw) but I planted it partly because it is evergreen and I don't want to look at a burlap sack all winter, I'd rather not have one if this is the case. So I took my chances, I was thinking about just pulling off the bad leaves if anything at all. I haven't seen them bloom yet so I don't want to cut back until after I've seen it bloom.

For about 5 years i have been trying to get them through the winter, tried everything for protection. As stated above they make it and then the leaves turn brown and they die.

I plant them high, mulch, do not fert, give a little sulfer.

This year i surrounded two with a wire cage and put burlap on top. they are three feet apart. One looks healty and green with new leaves but no flowers. The other was putting out new growth which is now turning brown.

I'm about ready to give up on them.
Don't understand as a friend about 5 miles from me has huge specimins and does nothing to winter protect

They are completely hardy in all parts of z6, but young starts in 1-2G pots need to be winter protected in a first couple of years untill established.
Spring planting is prefered over the fall planting, but in any case they must be WELL watered before go to sleep in November.
One more thing, young kalmias are very succeptible to winter sunburn while established ones could take winter sun very easy. Think about how yours were planted and if they become too exposed to winter sun that might be a reason why they lost all their leaves.
In a future just throw burlap over them for the first couple of winters and on year#3 leave them open.

And tho the leaves may be brown and dead, the wood--stems and trunk--may be alive. With winterburn on any evergreen, I fertilize heavily with 10-10-10, give one dose of spray-on Miracid (all my shrubs are acid-lovers--they better be), and water deeply and frequently until they recover.

I don't pick off the brown leaves. They fall off naturally, if not as fast as I'd like. It often takes til the Fourth of July. Then usually new leaves emerge. I think people are too quick to yank things out, thinking they are dead.

Agree. Don't write them off too fast.
Also, in a first couple years of planting you may want to use Wilt-pruff on young Kalmias instead of burlap, but don't forget to make a second application sometime in January-February on a nice sunny warm (40F+) day.

An update on mine...a year later! they both are still alive, I decided to let them be and nature took its course, brown leaves fell off and new ones grew. This year they look a little better, and hopefully by next year they will be in good shape. I will try the wilt-pruf too if I remember! Some smaller ones I got at Broken Arrow, maybe 8" tall, are doing fairly well.

Tina