My cistus appears to be dying

chrissycook1980

We have several cistus in our gardens but 1 in the back and the oldest and largest in the front are not happy at all. We had them for several years and never had any issues with them until now. We have very sandy soil so have plenty of drainage. Can anyone shed any light on it?

Borderline

It looks like the plant gets watered quite often. The base looks very dark compared with the surrounding soil areas. No need to feed or water often. That may rot the roots. 

chrissycook1980

Thanks for your comment. The dark is because we put some soil improver down around the established plants in early spring due to the soil being so sandy. 

Dovefromabove

Cistus are not a longlived shrub. It may have come to the end of its life. 

chrissycook1980

Thank you all for your comments. I think we'll have to put it to rest