Help! New Ceanothus not looking to hot...

13 years ago

I recently (3-4 weeks ago) planted a few native shrubs on an empty hillside next to my house - Carpenteria californica, ]Dendromecon harfordii, and Ceanothus "Dark Star". All of the plants have been doing great and sending out lots of new growth, except the Ceanothus, which looks like it might be dying? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, especially since the bush poppy is really taking off and they're supposed to be very sensitive to being transplanted.

The plant is on an east-facing, relatively steep slope with clay soil. Other houses around the area have Ceanothus that grow fine, so I'm at a loss as to what I can do. When I planted it, the ground was uniformly moist (not wet), from recent rain, and we've been having light showers off and on for the past couple weeks that keep the ground moist, as evidenced by the green grass.

But for some reason, the bottom leaves of the plant are turning brown and they fall off very easily when touched. What is this a symptom of? The newer growth at the top of the branches is still pretty green, but doesn't look as good as when the plant was bought (probably because the deer have been browsing on it a bit). This has not been a sudden change, it's been slowly turning more and more brown since I planted it. Right after I planted it, we had a rain-free period that lasted about 1.5-2 weeks and the soil got kind of dry, so I did water the plant once but have not since then.

No fertilizers have been applied and I filled planting hole with the soil that came out of it. I know Ceanothus generally hates it when you try to take care of it, but does this one look like it needs some TLC?

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Comments (6)

terrestrial_man
13 years ago
You probably should consider what the soil was like in the pot that the plant was growing in. It is similar to the soil type of the ground that you planted the plant into?
Initially I would say that you should have watered the ground DEEPLY before planting the ceanothus. To help the plant you may have dug a larger oversized hole and lined the bottom with coarse gravel (prob. a foot deep) before placing the depotted plant onto the gravel bed. Sit the top of the base of the plant above ground level and leave bare without mounding any soil or compost around it.
Some leaf loss is to be expected upon transplanting, and generally from the bottom of the plant as that is normal.
Unlike most freshly planted plants that die from overwatering Ceanothus probably dies more from underwatering in spring and summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: some info
nmcnear
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the message! Normally when planting I do water the ground before digging the hole, but I kept reading about how sensitive Ceanothus is to root rot and wet soil, I decided not too.

Digging a deeper hole and putting gravel at the bottom wouldn't have been an option since the soil layer is particularly thin on such a steep slope, and you can only dig about 12-18" down before hitting the bedrock (which I did). Could that be a problem if the bottom of the bottom of the roots are sitting on the rock layer? The rock is soft and relatively porous (in fact you can dig into it a bit with a shovel with a little elbow grease), so water does not collect on it like it would on harder rock. The other plants are also sitting on the rock as well, but they are really taking off.

Is there anything that can be done to help the plant now?
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nmcnear
Original Author
13 years ago
Also, when I got the plant at the nursery (which did not specialize in native CA plants), it seemed to be taken care of like most other plants there - rich soil, water every day, fertilizer (I'm guessing). I guess that could have contributed to the problem.
terrestrial_man
13 years ago
Am presuming a gallon sized plant? If so then I would think that the remaining 8 inches of soil below it is not enough to give it a moisture base to feed off of. You should probably water heavy for a couple of feet around the plant at least weekly for several months. Your best bet may have been to plant in fall when the weather would not have been as severe so the plant could root in then as, I believe, most root growth in the chaparral occurs over winter.
How about an image of all the plants in one frame?
nmcnear
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks again. I'll be sure to give the plant a good watering tomorrow. The plants are pretty spread apart so I don't think I'll be able to get all of them in one shot even with my wide angle lens, but I'll take some individual photos that show the new growth.

The bush poppy has several flower buds on it and lots of new leaves emerging from the branches now, and I'm thinking of buying a second one so I can get some seeds. I'm really happy that one is doing well since it was supposed to be the fussiest of the three species (based on what I've been reading).

The bush-anemones (there are two of those) don't have any buds on them yet, but apparently they don't come into bloom until May or June. They also seem to be quite happy now they are in the ground and are sending out new leaves and shoots, since they seemed pretty root bound when I got them and the older leaves looked a bit raggedy.
terrestrial_man
13 years ago
The Dendromecons make a great stand when planted en masse!
Will look forward to seeing the images.
Have you thought of trying any of the Salvia species?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Help! New Ceanothus not looking to hot...

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Help! New Ceanothus not looking to hot...

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