Osmanthus shedding leaves

cefayle

I have a well established osmanthus (about 1m dia) in a patio pot (conical, about 60cm tall, 45cm dia).  It has started to drop new leaves.  In the spring it dropped alot of old leaves, but then buds appeared followed by new leaves.  The plant looks healthy.  It is in quite a sunny spot.
Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?  Any help please.

yorkshirerose

Could be the result of either too little or too much water.

Borderline

It does sound like the container is a bit small. Based on your photograph, it looks healthy. Also, with any evergreen shrubs, the canopy covers the root area, so watering must be adequate to allow the plant to survive. It's totally normal to drop old leaves and see new ones. It's only of concern if the leaf drop is faster than the rate of new growth.

Sunny spot is fine, but they will be fine in partial shade too. A loam-based soil like John Innes No3 is essential for all shrubs grown in containers.

cefayle

Thank you both for your comments. I will try more water first.

Fairygirl

I'd agree totally with @Borderline. Has it been repotted or had fresh soil put in the container?
There isn't a huge volume in a container of those dimensions, and there could be a large amount of root. That doesn't leave a lot of room for nutrition.
Watering is key - for the reasons already mentioned. The dense canopy prevents water penetrating, and often, people think 'oh it's been raining for an hour', but that rain hasn't got through. 

cefayle

Thank you Fairygirl