Could be viburnum leaf beetle...Have you seen any of THESE STAGES?

tj

That is a fungal issue. Is it getting hit by irrigation?

There are irrigation heads nearby but the system goes on at 4am and these bushes are on the east side of the house. They get full sun until noonish and then again later in the day, The damage is also on all sides of the shrubs. Here is the north side of the path...

And here is the south side...

Tsugajunkie, thank you for the suggestion. I will do further research online. I don't see any obvious signs of this beetle but I will do a more thorough inspection tomorrow (going out tonight and I don't want to kneel on the concrete in my dress - my neighbours think I'm strange enough as it is ;-) ). Would it affect the viburnum davidii as well?

Any viburnums would be on the menu. Be sure to look for the different stages of the beetles, not just the adults.

tj

Actually, a number of viburnum species are quite resistant to VLB, including the davidii. V. tinus is less resistant but not as frequently bothered as many other, deciduous species. VLB is not yet a common pest in the PNW, although its presence has been recorded here since 2015.

GardenGal, which other species are susceptible to VLB? The tinus and davidii are the front but I also have opulus, burkwoodii, plicatum, carlesii and x bodnantense in the back garden (can you tell that I like viburnums?). No one I know has come across this before in my area of the PNW.

This might help - Viburnum leaf beetle susceptibility. And this WSU publication provides a pretty good oversight of the VLB issue here in the Puget Sound area. As I noted, not hugely common but they do exist. I deal with a lot of viburnums myself as part of my business and I have yet to see VLB damage over here in Kitsap county.