A few thoughts:

Unfortunately, these were planted very late and were perhaps not in the best condition. They certainly have had no time to make root growth or produce healthy top growth and flowers.

Second, Viburnum 'Shasta' really needs full sun, or almost full sun. I don't think yours will have enough sun in the location you describe.

Lastly, these shrubs get quite big--12 feet wide in only a few years and 10' high before long as well. They are not a good choice for a foundation planting.

I am sorry to say it but I think you should move them to an area in sun with lots of room. Then they will pay you back with a gorgeous display such as you can see in many places right now.

My experience with v. doublefile 'Shasta' is that it's an energetic grower & puts out a stunning & reliable bloom. It does best with full sun in organic soil.

'Shasta' is known for its trademark horizontal growth pattern being wider than tall. I planted 'Shasta' at our current home in spring 2004 from a standard 3-gallon nursery container. Today, it's approximately 6-1/2' tall by 8-9' wide & in full bloom now.

I took a picture intending to post for you to guage how large these shrubs grow but, for some reason, picturetrail is telling me my shot is to large to upload (?).

Anyway, 'Shasta' is too large for a foundation planting, IMO, unless you've got one side of the house with no windows that would be blocked & your foundation bed is, at minimum, 12-15' wide. Even then, it might spread to rub the siding. 'Shasta', again IMO, is best as a specimum shrub or, on a large piece of property...they can be a stunningly beautiful hedge in full bloom & still attractive for its pure form after bloom.

I love this shrub but give it lots of real estate. It's a crime to prune them in order to fit a too small space. Pruning ruins their natural form & beauty.

If they are not well branched showing good form...I would yank them & start over with good nursery stock. The first year, or two, 'Shasta' will appear to be an upright grower but by its third year in the ground starts to show the characteristic horizonatal growth pattern.

/tricia

Thank you for the input. I'm working off a plan done by a landscape designer - as I was doing research on the plants he chose (I'm a new gardener) I questioned the wisdom of this choice for this location. Should have followed my gut instinct! Do you have suggestions for replacements? The front garden is foliage and white blossoms - holly, fothergilla, white roses, purple heuchera, tiarella, bugbane, culvers root, 2 yews acting as trellises for clematis. The space where the shastas are is the central point on either side of the front porch.

Before I touched a thing that was part of a designers plan I would communicate your concerns directly to him or her. There is that I know of at least one Dwarf Doublefile Viburnum, plicatum var. tomentosum 'Nanum Newport' that has a height and spread of 6Â, and there are likely many more varieties. This shrub will tolerate shade which by the sound of your other plants is likely one of many reasons your designer chose this plant. Yesterday I happened to see a V. plicatum planted as a foundation planting in a professionally landscaped yard it was stunning and not at all like the monster I have. I will try and get a photo within the next few days.

There are a lot of people who call themselves landscape designers and who have no qualifications. It is a term anyone can use. The horse is out of this barn but it's worth asking about education AND experience when hiring someone.

Ask to see gardens installed at least five years. Anything can look good immediately after installation.
Another unfortunate pitfall is that even many trained landscape designers or architects have no horticultural experience and I have seen many expensive disasters.

Thanks Runktrun - I went back to check the designer's plan and he did specify plicatum toment - and then I went to check the plant tag and that is what I bought. I planted it with a lot of space around it - which is why I'm guessing his design also included lots of perennials around it now. So maybe I'll be OK. One of the two plants is gorgeous right now - one is leggy but has blossoms. I checked my notes and they were planted on Oct 30 last year and purchased from a reputable nursery, who does give a one-year guarantee. So if it's still looking sad by the end of the summer, I can return it - after, of course, I dig it up! I appreciate the input from everyone.

Here is my Viburnum, about 3 years old. I think it is a Shasta, but I'm not completely sure. This gets full sun (the woods behind are on its north side) until about 3pm, but it has always been a sparse bloomer. Can anyone tell me, is there anything I can do to encourage more blooming? Does it really need full, 100% sun? It is only in average garden soil, could that be the problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

This is my Shasta. It came from Bluestone several moons ago as a 12 inch baby. It has grown a fair amount since then, and I'm beginning to suspect it may have achieved adulthood.

The trunk on the right side of the photo belongs to a 70 ft pin oak. Not too far off on the left side is a merely 60 ft pin oak. If you draw a line between the two, it runs pretty much due east-west, and the viburnum is planted maybe 6 ft north of the line. This is not what anyone would call a full sun location, and the picture was taken of the north side of the shrub.

I also have a Snowflake which grows and blooms in a completely different fashion. It's much more upright, and not nearly as graceful.

I have no idea why this wouldn't upload the other day but here it is...

This was planted in 2004 from a 3-ga. nursery pot. It's in full sun & heavily amended soil. It also receives a 6" top dressing each spring of 50/50 leaf mold/manure. You can get an idea of size by looking at the bottom right of the shrub...there's a whiskey barrel there that needs to be moved because it's been swamped by the viburnum.

Love this shrub!

{{gwi:254241}}

/tricia

Ok, I think I have my answer. I'll try some more ammending. Tricia, your shrub is amazing. I'm going to work on making mine as happy as yours.

I love seeing all the pix - now I know that I'm going to love these shrubs! Since my original posting, I pruned the very leggy shasta - not sheared, but handpruned all of the long bare branches back to the base, the other branches I took off the leggy tips - it ended up being about half its purchased size. It has already filled in considerably and has a few blossoms. The other one looked pretty good as it started to come in and now it looks beautiful - lots of blossoms. They each get 5 hours of full sun a day, bright shade the rest of the day. We'll see how they do the rest of the season.

Personally, I think they appreciate SOME shade. They may flower a little bit better in full sun, but the foliage will stay better looking, IMHO, with a little shade. Mine, may it rest in peace, was always a tad crisp-looking by mid-July. It was in a spot with a very sunny western exposure and may have been on the dry side; they do not like dry soil. It grew big, fast, and flowered beautifully, so I assume it was reasonably happy, but ... I wasn't.

So sad. I added compost and gave a couple of tosses of plant tone last year and this is what I get...

Can anyone help? I need a viburnum to love!

Lisa

Lisa, yours doesn't look like a shasta. I don't see the horizontal-ness.

Mine took 5 years to bloom. This was planted in '05. Perhaps I applied fertilizer last year in desperation. Can't remember. This winter was less severe for other plants so maybe that was the secret. This spot gets afternoon shade. Better in person than this pic (but not as nice as MG's)

I have a Viburnum maresii that I planted in 2005 too, Wendy. Mine has only had a smattering of blossoms on it and last year it had a little more and this year, it finally has almost full bloom. I have mine in challenging conditions. Near the drip edge of a Silver Maple with only about 3 hrs of sun in the morning and shade the rest of the day. So I thought it wasn't blooming because of the low amount of sun. Very happy to see full bloom this year! Finally!

I have not fertilized at all until this year and I only added Alfalfa pellets and that was after it was already blooming. Since the area it is growing in is dry because of tree roots, I have paid particular attention to watering. The first year or two, it would occasionally wilt and perk up with watering. So when it gets too long between rain that is the first thing I think to water.

I think Lisa's shrub does have the beginnings of horizontal branching. I think it is just small and hard to see because of the background. These are all going to be beauties when they grow up! :-)