could you get some better pix..

looks like its planted too deep ... and looks very dry ...

how did you plant it.. how do you water.. etc ...

take a hand trowel or tablespoon.. and dig a couple 3 to 6 inch holes around and near the trunks.. AND FIND OUT if there is any moisture in teh

he root zone.. if not.. put the hose on trickle for a couple hours ..

sucker shrubs.. usually can be potted.. if you can get a bit of root on the sucker...

we need the ID before we go further with propagation ideas...

my first thought was a very droughted viburnum.... but im confused with the newer leaves being all green while the old ones seem to be yellowish ..... but i cant tell if the chlorotic color is normal.. or from drought or some other issue ...

ken

i think this post is wonky because the FAQ forum was added.. i did reply per above.. but on the main page.. it shows no replies...

i wonder if the OP can see the reply...

ken

That looks like two different species. The taller one looks like a tree.

If it were me, I'd cut the taller one off at ground level and let the other plant (which looks like a Viburnum) grow.

Sorry about the delayed response. Thanks for the questions. Here are better photos of the main plant.

Fothergilla sp.?

Fothergilla gardenii. A beautiful native shrub that's in the witch hazel family Hamadmelidaceae. They are very slow growing and reach a maximum height of 6-8 ft. They should get afternoon shade or dappled sun, so they don't burn in summer.

I looked up Fothergilla. The flowers and leaves don't match this plant. The flowers of this plant whitish/pinkinsh appears in May and looks more like dogwood.

Do you have any pics of the shrub blooming? Swida/Cornus would have a more upright growth pattern that was faster.

Perhaps a Viburnum then.

I don't have any photo. But the plant looked like somewhat like Cornus Controversa.

The suckers look like leatherleaf viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum). Not sure if the pale-leafed plant is the same, but perhaps so (not in good shape?).

Viburnum rhytidophylum leaves and flowers are not same as this plant

It's hard to make out the leaf arrangement on the pleated leaf shrub but it looks opposite to me. That fits Viburnum, not Fothergilla.

Well, Ive never seen a dogwood or viburnum looking so gnarly, but I suppose theirs a first for everything. 😆🫡

Joypdx, do you recall if the flowers were scented?

No noticeable

Opposite arrangement means NOT Fothergilla sp.

This is likely Viburnum plicatum, albeit a very unhappily growing (?) individual. As noted above, it could be planted too deeply initially. It also may have been container grown too long, which then developed an encircling root system that is slowly strangling the original plant crown. Subsequent adventitious stems breaking from dormant crown buds are showing normal size, color, and growth pattern of leaves contrasted against the stressed/declining yellowish foliage on the original stems.

This type of Viburnum comes in two general flavors:

• Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum: Japanese Snowball Viburnum, with "snowball" blooms (predominantly sterile florets/bracts) which are scentless and with no fertile flower parts - therefore fruitless.

• Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum: Japanese Doublefile Viburnum, with "lacecap" blooms marching double file down the branches, with fertile flowers in the center of the bloom surrounded by showy bracts/florets. When properly pollinated, this species will present blindingly showy red fruits on the bright red peduncles which humans appreciate and birds devour as they ripen in summer.

Depending on where you garden...the snowball form is grown more often in northerly conditions (somewhat more hardy), whereas the lacecap form ranges across mid south and southern states. It has begun to make the invasive species lists in the mid Atlantic growing regions.

There are many named selections in both forms of this plant.

Here is the flower. Please ID th

Thanls