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Is it too late? All brown ball shrubs

17 years ago

Hi!

I don't know the correct name. It's the evergreen bush that is cut or grown to be the ball shape tree. Like 3 or 4 on a tree. They are now all brown.

My neighbors were destroying a very old house, total leveling and they dug out these type of shrubs---and gave me two of them, I planted them quickly and watered them like crazy. They are all brown and crispy. I feel aweful about it and I love where they are planted. I want them to live. I was told by a person at work that if I cut all the dead off, they will come back to life. Is this true?

Please help me. Do I fertilize them too and with what?

OR/ do I dig them up and.....trash them?

Thanks all for your help. I appreciate it very much.

Radd

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Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
17 years ago
without a picture.. and based only on your words.. time to trash them ...

if you are talking about a conifer .. an evergreen .. if its not green ... there is little hope left ... there are no dormant buds which will magically reappear ...

no need to fertilize a dead plant ...

ken
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
You should never fertilize a newly transplanted shrub, dead or otherwise.

Without knowing what kind of plant you have, we really can't guess about the chances of survival. Doesn't sound very promising, though. Good sized transplants have to be dug carefully and planted properly. Some plant species don't take kindly to the process no matter what.
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Hi Steve, Welcome home! Believe it or not I was thinking about you a little over a week ago! I collected seed from the Lavatera this year, and when I googled it to be sure I was remembering the right species, guess what popped up! Your site! Was glad to see you were posting more again--and wondering how your Commuting Relationship is going--and, do you have gardens on both ends now? I really just came to say, hi! Not sure I can help you with your question since I'm not a Shrub Person, but with perennials, they can be planted absolutely any time the soil's not frozen, so I'd be inclined to say that if they're not too big, I don't see why you couldn't move them now. If it were me I'd probably watch the weather and look for a time when you should be getting at least a couple nites that will be above freezing right after you transplant them, but I'm not sure if that would make any difference or not! Hopefully somebody with a little more shrub-sense will show up with some additional/better advice! Hope all is going well with you, and that we'll see you around here a little more, Skybird
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I'm in Greensboro. I think there's a Green Resource in WS, their pricing is better than SiteOne and they seem to have every pesticide and fertilizer in existence.
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Thanks for your encouragement susieqz. You noted that your older trees ripened 'a full month earlier'. I of course don't know what will finally happen, but I want to report on even more potential improvement. In my original post above, my figlets must have started developing around the 10th-15th of August; they did get big but of course didn't have time to ripen. Today, (may 22nd) I just noticed that I have lots of figs just beginning to develop (all smaller than a pea) that must have become visible in the last few days. That is almost THREE months earlier than last year. Of course, last winter was very mild with only a couple days just below 20 °F. Most branches were spread out so I didn't protect them except to bury the whole central area in perhaps 8-12" of leaves and pine straw. No exposed branches were damaged.
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zone is minimum winter temp on the worst day.. means nothing right now ... always include big city name ... in every post ... i would probably hold them for fall planting ... and make sure the black pot itself is in full shade.. so it doesnt heat up in sun.. and bake the roots ... if ball and burlap.. find a pot big enough.. and put the BB into the pot.. and fill it up with course mulch ... note section one at link ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub ps: you arent a real gardener.. unless you have 100 pots to plant in fall ... lol ...
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aegis1000
17 years ago
Hey Radd,

Those shrubs are, likely, dead.

Unless everyone involved knew (and did) exactly the right things ... when moving these shrubs, ... it was quite a risky venture.

I halfway know what I am doing planting and caring for more than 200 trees and shrubs ... but I've watched some 20 or so die on me.

The good news is ... you can replace these dead shrubs ... with live (and healthy) replacements.

Take some time to go and see what's available at the plant nurseries around town. Even box hardware stores like LOWES and/or Home Depot ... might have something you would like.

I also recommend getting yourself some books on landscape trees and shrubs. This will help you to see what's available to you ... and will enlighten you on proper planting and care for the plants.

You might take a look at this one. You can get it cheap as dirt at the link provided below.

{{gwi:275664}}

Lots of folks get interested in landscaping ... after they've put something they liked in the ground ... and watched it die.

Don't think of it as a loss ... think of it as an opportunity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree/Shrub book
outofmytree
Original Author
17 years ago
Awwww, thanks ya all for the advice! I was hoping I could still save them...maybe I will just spray paint them purple, since they are dead any way and give the neighbors something to talk about!
They were some kind of evergreen, i'm sure. Ok, well it never hurts to ask and I guess I better read up and research as the shrubs/trees are out of my league. I actually hate trees, they are so messy and always sh%t-ing something! But shrubs are cool.
OX Radd

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