Hamamelis dying off on one side

[shelagh]

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with our Hamamelis mollis pallida? One side seems to  be dying off. It did this about 5 years ago and we had to chop off a large section then the rest of the tree perked up and carried on as normal. Now it seems to be doing it again. This tree is one of our favourites so any  advice would be welcome.

[shelagh]

Brian tells me what I should have said was that the tree flowered beautifully all over just after New Year and subsequently all the leaves came out perfectly. It's just in the past week that it has shown signs of distress.

[Maggi Young]

We've  had  similar die-back on some  rhodos  over the  years.  One  looking sorry  for itself  right  now - but so far we are hoping  for  a recovery.  The  plant flowered  well last  autumn and  this  spring. We reckon the  problem is  mostly  last  year's  drought.

[Carolyn]

Shelagh,
I think Maggi may be right - and if you think back 5 yrs, we had a heatwave in 2014 and several weeks of drought, perhaps that fits in with the die-back? I do hope so! We are just watching our beautiful mature elm tree die - Dutch elm disease is finally catching up here. I think we will need to get the tree surgeon in... So sad (and so expensive!)