Diagnose by symptom
Shoot and branch dieback
Browning and dieback of whole shoots or branches, sometimes as if scorched, are serious woody-plant diseases:
Diseases
Fire blight
Blossoms and young shoots suddenly turn brown and then black, looking as if scorched by fire — hence the name of the dis…
DiseaseEuropean canker
The disease mainly attacks apple and pear. Sunken, concentrically cracked and gradually enlarging wounds, known as canke…
DiseaseBoxwood blight
Dark brown spots with a more distinct, darker margin appear on boxwood leaves and quickly merge together. On the green s…
DiseaseBrown rot (Monilinia)
On pome and stone fruit, brown, enlarging rot spots appear, on which concentrically arranged, grey-beige cushions of spo…
DiseaseVerticillium wilt
The first symptom is a sudden wilting and drying of leaves on individual branches or on one side of the crown, while the…
Frequently asked questions
Why are my shoots dying back?
Shoot dieback has several causes: bacterial diseases (fireblight on pome fruit, bacterial canker on stone fruit), fungal bark diseases, and frost damage. It matters where the dead tissue ends and whether there is oozing, bark discolouration or sunken lesions. Infected shoots are cut back into healthy wood, below the edge of the damage.
What is fireblight?
Fireblight is a serious bacterial disease of pome fruit (apple, pear, hawthorn, rowan) in which shoots, blossoms and leaves rapidly turn brown and black as if scorched. Characteristic signs are the shepherd's-crook bend of the shoot tip and droplets of bacterial ooze. It is a notifiable disease – infected plants often must be removed and reported.
Does frost cause shoots to die back?
Yes – late spring frosts and hard winters damage young or unripened shoots, which then turn brown, dry out and die back from the top. Frost damage often affects several shoots at once and appears after a cold spell, without the oozing typical of bacterial diseases. Frost-damaged parts are cut back into healthy tissue once the risk of further frosts has passed.