There was someone else asking this same question a few weeks ago. I cannot help you but I can say that I also have this shrub that I have had for a year. I moved them about 2 months ago & they lost their leaves soon after but they wee putting on new growth at the same time. They never looked like they were going bare. I too have very good draining soil . I did notice a couple of them had some burnt looking leaves, I assume I let them get a little dry after the move at some point. I am careful now to not let them get dry. I hope that you get this figured out soon. Good luck!

any chance at a pic that is a bit closer .. so that we might 'see' something???

all evergreen plants.. shed leaves/needles ... its cyclical ... and increased by certain weather events ... e.g. bad winter.... drought year before.. etc ...

when did you plant them last year.. were they end of year bargains?? ... how did you plant them ... etc ...

ken

I believe we planted them in June last year and got them ata growers outlet that has a great reputation. As for how we planted them, I cant quite remember.

Mine look just these, planted them a year ago in eastern North Carolina and bought them from Lowes and planted them in full sun in a raised bed where I had removed some dead Hawthorne

Same here. I planted mine last year and it looked beautiful. Made it through the winter fine and in spring it looked great. Now it is loosing leaves. Do you think they are dying?

I am having the same problem. The back and top of the shrub are healthy with new growth. The leaves on the front are slowly dying , traveling upward toward the top. Would love any idea of whether this can be corrected or if it is dying.

Same here! has anyone found any answers or solutions?

I planted a bunch of these from growers outlet in the early spring. I have them in sun and shade and all are growing strong. I think yours look like they need more water.

Has anyone found answers yet? I’m having the same problem and not sure whether there is treatment or toss it and get new one. please help

I have 8 or 9, only one lost it's leaves so it's not a seasonal thing. I ended up moving the one that was losing it's leaves to a location with less afternoon sun and now it is recovering and the leaves are filling back in again.

I have 3 of them. They are all 3 losing some leaves, but the one that is in the sun all day looks the best of the 3. The other 2 only get sun until around 11am, and are extremely bare. I'm planning to move them to see if they fare better in a different location.

I have 2 and both were planted at the same time, they were great the 1st season and this spring they are bare. They both look like they are alive at the lower part of the plant, green branches, but no leaves. I guess I will just keep them where they are and see what happens in another season, even if they look terrible, lol. It doesn't seem like you can get much advice or feedback from Houzz discussion, I will continue my search for !

Amy luck with an answer. I have four and have looked great for two years and now are bare

Must be something going on. I planted 8 last spring and this year 4 are just about completly bare.

Leaves started turning brown but at the same time it looked as though new growth was trying to come out.

I drove around my community and noticed that many others also look very thin and bare this year.

what is the answer ?

I have 2 in front going on 4 years - they were thriving now bare in middle and she’d like crazy. I think it’s Nematodes.

Thanks. I will try this, maybe the ones that aren't getting as much sun (in my case) would benefit from having more water to balance things out. I'll report back.

I would try cutting them back so they dont have to work so hard to thrive until healthy again! Spray neem oil on them for infestation then throw salt around the roots and water in WELL!

If anyone is still following this please ignore the previous 'advice'.... unless you wish to get rid of your privets. Cutting back makes a plant work harder to push out new growth. Don't spray anything until the problem has been properly identified. And please, please, please do not put salt around plants. Salt is a strong herbicide.

I have 14 of the Sunshine Ligustrums and have been experiencing the same issue. In So MD we have had a lot of rain and high winds. Last year when I had a few that went bare on one side starting from bottom of plant and then spreading to top, I sprayed with Bondine Rose RX . Plants I sprayed did rebound, but I am not 100% that those sprayed didn’t rebound on their own. This year I have 8 of the shrubs with this problem and I’m going to see if they come back on their own. I have a large variety of deciduous and evergreen shrub in my yard that experience the same light and weather and they do just fine. I think Sunshine Ligustrums are more sensitive to environmental changes . Sadly if these shrubs continue with this problen, I will replace all of them this fall

I had this problem last summer. Mine looked great then started losing a bunch of leaves especially on top. I had someone come out and he said it looked like a small caterpillar because some of the leaves looked like they had been chewed on and there were little tiny black specs. we didn’t see anything but came out late at night and found little green caterlillars. We treated them and they started looking much better in a couple weeks then had to treat again about 6 weeks later. They were doing fine until we had a 3 day freeze and now look brown all over so i guess we will see if they look better in the spring.

North Alabama tip for the sunshine find or buy a metal rod about 1/4 and at the edges of the grown branches hammer down half the the full height of bush into ground about 4-6 locations around the bush hot soil compaction is a problem with these roots wont move they starve for oxygen

I add aeration holes around the base of our bushes in spring our soil is clay at 16 in here in the summer it becomes compacted hard you will notice the walking layer of your dirt becomes cracked in summer thus dirt becomes hydrophobic and water won't soak to roots adding deep 1/4 inch holes with rebar or spike allows water to soak deeper and adds oxygen the roots good luck

Digging mine up. I do not believe the cultivar is as good as it was talked up. I have followed all suggestions and still have poor results with careful attention.

I think I may dig up the one that lost all its leaves. And hope for the best on the one next to it

Having this problem also! Out of 4 planted, 2 are just awful! I’m in zone 8a NC. Think I’ll try aerating around base and water. We’ll see what happens! Anyone suggest fertilizer?

Just to make a note- I feel like mine always loses leaves in the spring and then bounces back. My neighbors’ looked rough and now beautiful so I added fertilizer and thinking it will come back like it has each May

They might be sensitive to weed killer. coz my neighbors apply weed killer and their plants lost leaves when compare to my yard . i don use weed killer in my yard.