Sorry about the damage to your son's tree. Not fun. I have to say, I am not a big fan of 'Desert Museum' palo verde trees. I know they are the "in" and trendy tree right now and are being planted everywhere, in commercial settings especially, but I think they are awfully lanky and gangly and subject to a lot of wind damage. They're popular because they grow very quickly, and low litter and generally thornless, but that quick growth makes their branches shoot up and look boring and weak (to me). I know, I know, a ton of people have them and love them, and I think the best ones are ones that get regular pruning and not too much water. I'm not saying I'd never try one if I ever moved to a new garden, but I would expect to have to prune it a lot to keep it looking nice and to keep it from getting storm damage and honestly, I just don't think a lot of plant sellers are telling people that part. Your son can prune his to try to create a shape he likes and that's a decent approach. I've seen some very nice ones around town, but again, they're getting regular pruning to thin them out and to make interesting branches. If he replaces it, I'd suggest getting a non-hybrid native Palo Verde if possible. In any case, he can defitely give it a good haircut and see how it progresses. Thinning out and removing a lot of the thin branches will help its appearance for sure. Good luck to him. Let's see what our other members say too. Take care, Grant

I have two Sonoran emeralds in my yard I love love love these trees. The damage you see is from the woodpeckers but if your trees healthy will be no problem. They do grow very quickly so be careful not to overwater As this will lead to a week cellular structure and the branches will break easily in our monsoon weather.... That is what happens to many of the mesquite trees around here,too much water. Trim and shape them when they are young the wounds will heal properly. The tree pictured is 11 years old.

24" box size trees need more than 2 gallons of water a week to establish themselves in the ground, even desert trees. Did you get any instructions on watering from whoever planted it? As desert plants, palo verdes will be dormant in any season if they have no soil moisture. Your tree maybe be going dormant because it's not getting enough water or because it is young, newly planted, and stressed. We had a long stretch of cool weather, but now the summer heat has hit hard and it is responding by dropping its flowers, to protect itself and conserve moisture. A mulch would keep the soil cooler, hold moisture in, and reduce stress on the tree. Keep mulch away from direct contact with the base of the tree. I'm assuming you have 'Desert Museum' which is what is being widely sold in CA. 'Desert Museum' care

Fruitless olive comes to mind, but it's not very fast growing. Willow acacia, shoestring acacia, palo blanco, .... I'm going through my booklet Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert. You can find it here: Landscape Plants for the AZ Desert