I have several V plicatum tomentosum of different types, and they aren’t bothered much if at all by Viburnum beetles, though like you I also had to rip out a Blue Muffin due to its ratty appearance caused by the beetles. So I wonder if it is Viburnum beetles that are causing the problems. IME they make fairly tidy holes and your damage looks to me more like Japanese beetles or one of the other Asian beetles.

I think your first few words “the really hot, dry summer” summed up the main issue that is causing stress to your new plants. If you can keep them watered and as GH suggested, mulched, they should look better next year.

In the future, you might try early fall planting as an alternative. We have a very short spring here, so plants go into hot temperatures with cold soil, while in the fall days are shorter, air temperatures are cooler, and soil is warm which creates less stress on the plants IME. I have had far better success with fall planting as long as it doesn’t get too late in the fall. I don’t know how similar your soils and growing conditions are to mine.

Thanks folks... I will try Neem Oil.. I bought some a few months back and never used it.. sort of forgot about it. I do mulch.. When watering, I have been using a watering can on individual plants. I also use a sprinkler occassionally to water a broad general area..

Both pagoda dogwood and Canada serviceberry are supposed to have consistently moist soil, like along a stream, swamp, or pond margin in part shade. Theyre going to look unhappy by late summer without that. A good wide mulch layer should help them get established but they may not ever thrive all year long without the preferred conditions.

splaker, your pagoda dogwood might be suffering from transplant shock. They are very common around here, but the seedlings are attacked relentlessly by deer & almost never allowed to mature. Here's mine in a spot on my lot where the deer avoid:

A watering can is unlikely to supply the amount of water each plant needs. I use mine only to water some summer vacationing house plants or to apply liquid fertilizer. Otherwise, I use a watering wand to thoroughly soak the root zone of any inground plantings when watering is necessary....maybe only a couple of times a week in the driest, hottest part of the summer.

Infrequent but deep and thorough watering is the key!!

Doing what can seem like really heavy or frequent watering is the key. Recently planted stock coming out of pots, planted with intact potting soil root masses will need to be watered as often or nearly as often as if it was still in the pots - until strong enough rooting out into surrounding soil occurs for it to become completely independent of the potting soil. With cold climate adapted woody plants in particular this does not occur until autumn. In addition to the above (NHBabs) mentioned points this is one of the main drawbacks to spring planting, that is there will not be a big push of root growth until autumn.

Gardengal, I've got a wand collecting dust in the garage... I'll try that!

We got a good rain the afternoon...thunderstorm. Next few days heat is going to relent finally.. Maybe we will see some improvement.

As for the serviceberry, clearly rust has plagued the plant. Is there anything I can do about rust?

Check the soil. After a good downpour and then steady rain for an hour last week which gave us 1/4”, the soil was still dust dry below the first inch.

I am also at war with the Japanese beetles. This is the first year I had a problem with them. I was polluted with them. I sprayed all my bushes/plants with neem oil. That took care of a lot of the beetles, but not all. You have to reapply every 7 to 10 day. In between the neem oil applications I walk around every day with a spray bottle of pyrethrum and spot kill any beetles I see. Be careful with the pyrethrum and only spray the beetles on a leaf. Do not spray on any flowers. Pyrethrum will also kill bees that land on flowers treated with it. I am down to seeing only a few beetles every day now.

We got about 1/2" - should at least give me some temp relief.. I will check the soil again tomorrow.. The plants that are affected are planted in spots that are actually quite moist, even seasonally waterlogged because the are on a low spot and this is the reason I've planted them back there. This heat and dry spell happened in 2016 except I didn't have all these neat plants in the ground yet. I'll have to take a pic of my garden soon to show it off! I am pretty proud of what I've done..I am a relative newbie to gardening and if any of you have followed my posts over the past 3 years and recall what my property used to look like, you'll hopefully agree there's improvement! I've gotten lots of help here...

functionthenlook, the beetles are brutal this year.. they are eating many different plants... I am going to try Neem.. does it kill them? Glad to hear another person endorse it.

Can neem oil be safely sprayed herbs? They are eating my basil.

For the sake of wildlife I would not use neem, and buy a couple jb traps instead. I let virginia creeper grow on my fence, and the beetles ravage that and leave all my important plants untouched.

I read in one place that the neem oil does kill them and another place says they just don't like the taste of it on the leafs. One thing they all said is when the beetle eats the leaf with neem oil it messes up their reproduction system and their off springs die. Each female can lay up to 40 eggs in your lawn which turns into grubs that eats your lawn then when they turn into adults they eat your vegetation. All I know is when I sprayed the neem oil the next day about 75% of the beetles were gone . Yes you can spray most plants with it and eat the plant the next day. All Japanese beetle traps do is attracts your neighbors Japanese beetles into your yard.

So it can ultimately help your lawn too... I noticed them about 10 days ago...I hope it's not too late to get at them.. thanks

Yes it can ultimately help the lawn. They eat the roots of your grass. All Japanese beetles do is have sex, lay eggs and eat, eat, eat. Hum doesn't sound bad, maybe in my next life I will come back as a Japanese beetle. In the mean time you just reminded me that I will have to check with my lawn guy next time he comes and see if he sprays for the grub/larvae in my treatments.

I will have to check with my lawn guy next time he comes and see if he sprays for the grub/larvae in my treatments

You should always know what they are billing you for and be keeping track of whether or not it seems like all of it is needed - pesticides should never be applied when not definitely needed. Chemicals running off of lawns in particular are a significant threat to water quality.

Hahaaa!! the J Beetles seem to know how to live!

I asked hubby, he is the one that hired them and yes the do spray for grubs/larvae. Yea!