looks very dry... big city name plz ... hows the weather been this spring and summer??

gently loosen the top soil up.. and rake it back.. and give it a good long deep drink ...

the ID confuses me.. but maybe its a spirea i havent seen before ... whatever .. suggestion is the same ...

ken

i would also check if its easily propagated.. and if so.. stick 6 cuttings in a one gal pot in shade.. and see if you can root some new ones.. just in case..

Like virtually all other spiraeas, this can be cut back hard to regenerate. Since this cultivar tends to get rather leggy and open in time, hard pruning is often recommended, typically right after flowering, but that ship has sailed this year :-) I'm not sure I'd risk it this late in the season in your zone. I'd be inclined to wait until early spring when the buds start to swell. You will likely miss any flowering but that is a sacrifice I'd make for a dense, compact shrub going forward.

It is definitely not dry. I did as you said to begin with about raking the soil back. I really had hoped that something had naturally 'layered', but no dice. I did the cuttings as well!

Gardengal: There wasn't much to prune off and I definitely didn't want to stress the plant anymore. Other than some dead branches and a few cuttings, I didn't take much off, even though it appears that way. I did notice that it had a lot of rotten dead stems at the base, much like butterfly bush do when not pruned hard.

I really have neglected this shrub in terms of pruning. It was always so pretty and I loved the shape. If it perks up at all and seems to do better, I think will do the hard prune in Spring!

But looking at it I can only hope some cuttings take! I wanted more of these before, and could never find any. One vendor has it now. I think I'll bite the bullet and get one (or two).

(Sigh)

Thank you both!

I have several of these, and periodically cut them way back to generate new growth. They look ugly for a it, then bam! beautiful again. (In NC)

IME it is difficult to kill a spirea. As suggested, hard prune in spring and it will likely come roaring back.