even in NE.... its mid september.. arent the leaves going to fall off within about a month???

if so ... who cares what the leaves look like ...

gorgeous lawn ... heavily fert'd? ...

how much did it grow this season??? .. from the top.. look down the branch.. at the bark.. and you can tell this years growth from last years .... let us know ... it changes ... color and texture over the years

excessive growth could be related to excessive fert ... but hey.. its a smoke bush.. they grow like weeds regardless ...

im not saying this is a problem.... just an observation ...

imo.. but not in person.. i havent seen a healthier one.. and yours look just fine.. for this time of year ...

dont try to harm it with too much love.. ignore it ...

ken

Hello Ken,

Thank you for your observations.

Lawn heavily fertilized? My inadequate answer is, “Unknown” – a lawn-care company treats the lawn.

This season’s growth – in April the bush was perhaps 20” tall, spindly, and I thought it might not grow; obviously it’s shown a great burst of growth. (Last summer, it appeared that the bush might have been touched with some harmful “overspray”.)

Thank you again. We will enjoy the smoke bush.

Ken H.

Please educate yourself about what your lawn company is applying! A property owner has a special custodial responsibility for the environment. Understand what you are doing to the groundwater, wildlife, air. You can’t afford to be flippant about it.

Your smokebush looks fine to me.

It looks a bit stressed to me. It is relatively newly planted and so might need more water. Actually stick your finger down into the soil a bit to see if it is lightly moist. If not it needs more water.

The lawn care company is likely spreading an herbicide designed to kill broad-leafed weeds since I see no weeds, and that might be effecting it. At the least contact the lawn maintenance company to ask and enlarge the circle of mulch to decrease water competition and possible problems from lawn treatments. My preference as far as design is to include shrubs as part of a bed of plants rather than isolated in the lawn, so consider moving it. For suggestions of where, a photo of the yard would be needed.

As others have mentioned, this isn’t a huge problem as far as this year’s foliage, but you want it well hydrated going into winter and you want to know what was causing the stress so that it can be remedied next season.

If this is 'Ancot' (Golden Spirit) I have had a real issue siting it properly. Too much sun and it looks worse than yours, too much shade and it's green. I have two of them, both of which have been moved more than once. As Ken notes, by this time of year many deciduous shrubs and trees show the signs of heat, wind, etc. Yours looks fine given the time of year.

I've had the opposite experience with my 'Ancot' Smokebush than Sara has had: I have it in unobstructed, all-day sun and it's taken on a mostly chartreuse green color, like in your final photo, but without any scorch or "crisping" issue.. The first flush of new growth in spring has the nice golden color (as advertised), but it quickly shifts to mostly pale green for the rest of the summer.

Then again, our "full sun" here in upstate NY is probably a good deal less intense than Sara's.

Yours looks pretty healthy overall, and I don't think the leaf curl or "crispy" ones are an indication of anything other than the plant showing a little "wear and tear" after a long summer.

Shouldn't be curling or crisping, those are red flags. Golden Spirit ('Ancot') often does well in sunny places here but we have a cool and cloudy climate.

In September lots of things look crispy. Mine look just like that. And sah67 yes, I bet that your sun is a bit less intense, but even more importantly, your summer air is not as dry. My summer ambient humidity is about 20%!

My summer ambient humidity is about 20%

Thereby explaining lots of things looking crispy where you are.

Yep. Some years by this time it looks like the garden has been blow-torched!