problem with bottle brush trees dying?

15 years ago

need some help please. i have 5 bottle brush trees in my yard. the largest is approx. 6' tall. the problem is that on 2 fo them about half of the tree is dead and the leaves are brown like fall time. i cut that part off and they look fine for a while and then again more dead shows up. on one of them the trunk looks like it is cracking open or spliting if you will. is it from too much water or not enough. we are in a drought here in ga now and very hot temps and it is expected to get worse as summer goes on. plmk what to do with them. i have never grown them before this is the first year for them and i am afraid i will lose them. thanks for the help. vicki

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Comments (3)

Dibbit
15 years ago
It is hard to tell from your posting whether the trees have been in the ground for a number of years or if they are newly planted. If they have been there for a while, then watering MAY not be the problem. Check around the roots and see if it is especially dry. Mulching would help keep whatever moisture there may be at the root level, to do some good, since I am assuming that it's more likely to be dry than wet.

If it doesn't seem to be moisture that is the problem, I would take a few branches/twigs/leaves to your county extension agent - look in the phone book under state or county agencies - and see what they can tell you. You can also take them to a GOOD nursery, if there is such in your area, and try to talk to the manager/owner. If you talk to one of the employees, they MAY not know anything - I would be slightly suspicious of any response that immediately tries to sell you "this great product", although, in fairness, you may need one or the other of the products!

If the trees are newly planted (within the past year), then probably, since you say you are in drought conditions again, they need more water. You can save the water that you run in the kitchen or bath faucets, waiting for the hot water to get there, and use that for watering - I would use most of a bucket on only a few plants, rather than a bit on all of them, as that way the whole root system will get wet. If you can't do that, then I can't think of what else it might be of use - posting a photo would help.
Iris GW
15 years ago
Just to be clear, parker, are you referring to Aesculus parviflora (bottlebrush buckeye) or something else?
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You have two threads going on this issue. This being the newest, I'll post here. As noted, you don't say whether this plant started with you as a container grown specimen (came with all its roots) or whether it started with you as a B&B plant (truncated root system, needing recovery). That can inform opinions offered and recommendations therefrom. Your soil pH would be interesting to know, but not necessarily germane to growing this species. Texts say it prefers acid soils that are well-drained, but I've grown it on absolute limestone soils to various circumneutral sites with well-drained to heavy B-horizon clay loams - like here at the Valley, where I've grown over a hundred of these, with the oldest now for over twenty years. I really don't think that bit of yellowing is a matter for concern. It could be a nutrient deficiency that came with container culture; it could be a bit of heat stress that affected that set of leaves as they were forming. I would continue with some iron sulfate if your pH is circumneutral; it won't hurt a thing. Some 10-10-10 in spring as it leafs out and in summer will assist in establishment, as Aesculus parviflora is a gross feeder and robust grower. Given your site description, I'm interested in how you plan to manage this as it matures. As a small canopy tree? Here are some happy old Bottlebrush Buckeyes, doing their summer thing at the Valley...
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Another name for these is Paper Bark Eucalyptus. The red flowering species is just a small version of a large Euc. Crush a leaf and smell it, right away you will see the connection. The bark on these peels like an Acer griseum. If that is what is going on, then no problem. Also, the leaves only live about 3 years, so if the interior of the tree has yellow leaves and the outside ones are still green, no cause for alarm. One thing they do like is good drainage, they will not live if you are just a few inches above the water table like so many places are in SE FL. Without a picture and where the tree lives, it is so hard to give advice.
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I had a few Callistemon citrinus growing in the garden for a while, but the last one froze out in 2004 when the temperature dropped to about 22F in the most sheltered part of my garden where it was planted. I also don't have hope for any forms of C. viminalis which would include 'Little John'. Last December was a good test for Callistemons when the temperature dropped to the range of 12-14F with nearly a week entirely below freezing early in the month. Undamaged by this event were C. sieberi (several forms), C. viridiflorus, Callistemon sp. aff salignus, and a few unknown dwarf ones that may be forms of, or closely related to, C. sieberi/pityoides. All of the above have cream or yellow flowers. The hardiest red-flowered species such as C. subulatus, and 'Woodlander's Hardy' mostly had minor to moderate damage, and though none were totally undamaged, I was impressed that these did pretty well overall. I would also place all forms of C. pallidus in this category. Everything else froze to the ground, including anything with purple flowers, and C. montanus, macropunctataus, rigidus, a pink form of C. sieberi, and several more unknown ones. Too bad. Callistemons are pretty good at growing back from the roots if they are cut to the ground, so perhaps they will return if summer ever arrives this year.
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It's hard to tell from the photos, esp. the ones in the shadow, but some points in your message and photos stand out. Re: Fence: Those plants are very close to the fence. Did you cut any roots when you installed it? In the photos they're in the shadow and with being that close to the fence, they may not have enough light. They certainly are crowded and cramped. The pruning on the bottle brush and mulberry leaves a lot to be desired too. Re: Soil surface It looks very exposed and parched. Have you thought about mulching around the plants? It would help hold the moisture in the soil. There's also exposed roots around the little mulberry. Re: Trench How close to the plants and how deep is it? Were any roots cut? How often do you flood the plants? Instead of digging a trench you should build up a well around the plant out to the drip line, or where it should be. Fill the well to water, it should seep well down into the soil, say 6"-8". How often and how much do you water? What method do you use to water the trees? What is the soil like? What type of bottle brush tree do you have? There's a difference between being drought resistant/tolerant in a natural setting and being water stressed in a landscape. I don't think your problems are of the sudden onset sort.
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leslies
15 years ago
Could very well be damage from last year's drought. Our area is having problems with that, too, even though this spring has been wet.

problem with bottle brush trees dying?

Comments (3)

Dibbit

Iris GW

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