What's wrong with this shrub?

RedLass

Ladies and Gents, please can any of you tell me:

1. What is this shrub?
2. What's wrong with it?

We have lived here for three winters now, and unless I am suffering with brain fog, I don't remember this plant ever dropping its leaves in this way. I do recall though that at some time of year, some of the leaves are more orange/red. The leaf drop/disappearance seems to be only happening to part of the plant, or perhaps there are actually two of the same plants there and I hadn't realised.







Apologies for the poor light, I wanted to take pics while it was on my mind.

Obviously this plant, and the one behind it both need a good prune (not least so I can see out of the kitchen window again) but I'd like to do it at a time that best suits them, and with minimum risk of totally wrecking them (we rent the house so the garden is in our care). But I'm worried that it's gotten sick, or... well I don't know what really!

Can anybody help?

Leif

Could be a Choisya, and yellowing could be natural, some are yellow, or due to excessive rain. Some of my shrubs are decidedly unhappy this year.

splodger_seedswapper

yep - ditto as above - looks like a choisya - and looks fed up with weather / soil conditions

madjackslam

It's a choisya, probably Choisya ternata. I don't think it looks that unhealthy! They are normally that lemon green colour. Should have white flowers in spring, supposedly smelling of orange blossom.

I think you just need to prune out some of those tatty branches round the side. However, I would be inclined to leave it now until after it flowers next year. New growth can get clobbered by frost, so maybe don't encourage it to regrow now, so late in the season.

When you've pruned it, it may look tatty for a bit, but you should get new shoots coming up from the base. In future years, just tidy up after flowering.

I think notches in the leaves are probably snail damage. Is that a mahonia next to it? I bet it looks lovely when that's in flower.

I like pairing the choisya with a purple-leaved plant, like Cotinus, for the contrast.

RedLass

Thank you all

It is normally that yellowy-green colour, very bright and summery feeling at times. It occurred to me today that the part of the plant that has dropped its leaves spends a lot of time in the shade. I wonder if this has been compounded by less bright days this summer and it's gotten a bit grumpy after everything else we've faced weather wise.

The pruning tips are a great help, I will leave it until next year as you suggest and just trim back the mahonia(?) a little bit to clear the window. Even though it's a prickly beast, I admit it does look lovely when the colour changes to red/purple. Perhaps when I prune the choisya I can encourage the mahonia to creep through to the front on that side for a bit more contrast.