I believe seasol is very good for ailing grass trees. Failing that, and any other suggestions you might receive, I think you should consider taking it back to the nursery. Some people wouldn't hesitate to complain about something which cost $10 let alone $100.
Sadly, I think it's fairly common for grass trees which have been removed from the bush to die after a few years, but not 3 months.
They do seem to need a lot more water after transplanting than they would receive in the wild.

Thanks wattleblossom

Do u think i should cut all the dead leaves off ?

sometimes the frost hardiness of the plants suffers aswell
seasol seems to work
i have found that during winter my two suffer the same problem only to bounce back to glory during spring and summer
and they shoot the biggest and thickest flower spikes i have seen anywhere
what species of xanthorrea is it if it is a x.johnsonii it will suffer more as it is from qld but f it is a x.australis it should be suited to your climate
persevance is key to any plant not just these beauties

Thanks wazcrazy

Think it is a johnsonii, it did come from Qld way.

i also have a grass tree bought from a nursery with a QLD tag on it. the leaves are doing exactly the same thing, the outer ones are browning off, and a heap of new green ones are coming up on the inside. i think this is fairly natural, as the outer ones die off to drop down and form a skirt, also i'm sure the frosts we have had over winter in vic have affected it.

we have been monitoring it closely as it is our pride and joy! only to discover 2 days ago a flower spike formed and growing thicker by the day!! so we are very excited and thinking it must have taken to being transplanted after all.

so i would just keep an eye on it and wait a while. good luck!

I just bought 2 x.johnsonii (ex QLD) from Kippax Wollies (for those in Canberra) for $50 ea.

My question is, what sort of soil mix do people think I should use for these guys? I have a big planter box for them that needs filling.

Thanks

Hi casstef i hope that you have planted your two grass trees by now?,i to had a couple of jhonsonii wich i planted straight into the ground,one of them with an organic feed the other with nun,boath are dooing realy well,compaired with the soil in aus our soil here in pome land seems to have a bit more life in it generally i have found that ausse soil is vary sandy or mostley clay if feel this is one of the reasions thay grow so slow because life is hard going,no wonder thay die so often when removed from the bush,good luck.

Casstef, it's surprising what soil a X. johnsonii will grow in.
They'll work in anything from clay to a sandy loam and anything in between.
I reckon the secret is drainage.
Mine's been in the ground for 4 years (came from Qld)is at the front of a north facing house getting sun all day.
It's trunk height is about 80cm.
But it's sitting above a 1.5m retaining wall so the drainage underneath is fabulous.
The soil is a clay, sandy mix.
This year the plant has a 3 metre spear.
Good luck with them.

Roy

I also have a grass tree which is starting to look a little sad after having been transplanted from a relatives garden.
I have watered with a brown sugar mix and seasol once a month and am wondering about performing a "burn" to try and spur it along.
Can anyone advise about how to go about this, I believe newspaper can be used - how much would be sufficient (a whole papers worth?) and where should it be placed to try and mimick a wildfire?
Should it be piled around the base of the trunk or wrapped around its length?
Or would it be better to cut off the dead foliage and burn the trunk with the flame from a torch?

Hi hondaman im sorry to hear that your grass tree is sick,however when you removed it from your relatives garden did you take a large portion of root with it also did you try to keep the orignal soil surrounding the roots this would help,also did you put it straight back into the ground or into a pot,if you put it into a pot you would be better of placing it in a cooler/part shade position untill it growes new root,let me know what you have done in respect to thease points,burning the plant at this stage i think is not the answer,you have distroyed the root systeam this is where your problem lies,removing old folage would be a much better idea,afterall this is what the plant is trying to keep alive,by removing it the plant can put energy into growing new root,good luck

Thanks grahamgreenfingers, I planted it in the ground in a sunny location with a similar amount of sun as it used to get, I did not take much of the original soil but tried to salvage as much of the root system as I could.I also trimmed about half the length of the green foliage off of the tree after planting it. Since planting it I have seen how finicky these things seem to be - so I would have done it a little differently in hindsight. I have just applied a slow release fertilizer after having given it Seasol for the first couple of months (once a month). Do you think it is worth continuing with the brown sugar/water mix once a month to promote the bacteria growth they like in their root systems? If I trim the dead foliage back should I cut off the entire dead skirt below the green tuft and any other fronds which look yellowish?

HI hondaman if you are feeling brave enougth i would advise that you cut all the foliage off you can leave the skirt of ded leaves on but remove all the new,this may sound a bit surver however when grass trees are removed legaley from the bush one of the first things done to the plant is this, thay are then normally potted up for one year to grow new root,if possible try to create some tempoary shade over the plant in the form of another plant in a pot maybe,remember the grass will grow back aslong as you keep the tree alive,also never allow the roots to dry out during reastablishment.

Thanks for the advice grahamgreenfingers.

I recently brought a xanthorrhoea preissii that was part of the gold medal winning stand at the chelsea garden show this year,the plants in the stand were suplied by the australian company knowen as flemings nurseries,i have tryed to contact them to find out any infomation about the grass tree that i brought but i have had no joy,is there anyone that has or does keep a xanthorrhoea preissii that could give some good tips about this grass tree?

I live in the hot Tri Valley area east of San Francisco. I was given a grass tree from a fellow gardener. The tree is about 10 years and had flowered for them. We dug it up in February and took alot of soil with it however, it's roots went through a ginko tree and so in getting it out, some of it's middle roots were severed-to get it free from the Ginko.
I planted it in a very sunny spot-all day sun. It looked good but the last month it has been having more and more dying fronds. The trunk is about knee high. Today I went to investigate and found that the top of the tree is rotted, Near the soil level on one side there is an outshoot of some fronds. That was there when I got the tree. Also when I got the tree there were two pony tails of fronds on the top opposite where the flower stem was.
Is my tree a goner? Is there anything that I can try. Right now I am hoping the sun will dry the rot. Is there anything that can save this tree?
Sondra

g'day nsondra,

sounds like the fate of many transplanted grass trees. even when so called experts do it they still have a high mortality rate.

at this time might be better if you do a google for an expert on these plants, they may be able to offer some assistance?

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

Hi i have 5 grass trees that i have had for 6 years.
All have flowered many times.
One of the big ones looks like its dying off but when i trimed the dead leaves off i noticed some cat had poop in it will this cause the tree to die.
I removed the poop and used some seaweed stuff on it will this help....

Hi i have 5 grass trees that i have had for 6 years.
All have flowered many times.
One of the big ones looks like its dying off but when i trimed the dead leaves off i noticed some cat had poop in it will this cause the tree to die.
I removed the poop and used some seaweed stuff on it will this help....