Acacia Baileyana (Wattle Tree) dry and losing it's leaves
michaelaravanis
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years agomichaelaravanis
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
Tree ID - see pics
Comments (16)If one assumes it's either baileyana or dealbata, here are descriptions of both that should lead to an ID. I didn't take time to search through the descriptions and compare; I'll leave that to you. Acacia baileyana: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Acacia~baileyana Acacia dealbata: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Acacia~dealbata Here is a link that might be useful: World Wide Wattle...See MoreMystery Tree I can't Figure it Out!
Comments (5)People plant Acacia baileyana up here but it's too tender to persist outdoors for more than so many years. There used to be one inside the conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma, it may have been there for quite some time. Last time I saw it there were conks coming out of the trunk - not a good sign....See Moreacacia boormanii?
Comments (17)No, I haven't actually tried this - it's just an idea. Plants cannot "feel" or suffer from wind chill in the way that people do. The thing that really gets the Acacias and certain other Southern Hemisphere plants (many of them really, and some more than others) is the combination of wind, subfreezing temperatures and low humidity. Anytime we have east winds bringing modified arctic air into the region, you will notice the humidity drops way off to about 10-20% (except in the most maritime of locales, such as Port Townsend). In this situation, the plant is severely stressed because - air movement has a dessicating effect - super low humidity has a dessicating effect - being below freezing is obviously an additional stress. These Acacias etc. do endure very cold temperatures in the wild, in some cases down to 10F, 0F or even below. But whenever they have severe frost in the wild it is always with 100% humidity and no wind. So that is why I like my ice idea, even though I have never tried it. Sure the plants will be cold but there will be no chance of them getting dessicated. It is just that though, an idea. If you can trap humidity with plastic, that might work, until the plant gets too large. But you will have to seal it off pretty well for that to work! As far as 'drier soil' we could be talking about a couple of different things. #1 For many plants, there is an advantage to allowing them to dry out in late summer so they will harden off instead of growing into the fall, which would leave them susceptible to freeze damage. Such plants can still be rained on all winter and watered and fed generously in spring with no problems, as long as you stop in summer. #2 Many alpines, xeric plants, some western natives etc. show greater cold hardiness if the soil is really gritty so that it does not collect moisture in winter (better yet, a rain cover may be beneficial for some). But they too usually like to be watered generously in the spring. I would put Acacia and most cold hardy Aussie plants in category #1. Growing them a little tough is great...we don't need to water everything all summer around here.... growing them too tough might slow them down more than necessary....See MoreAre acacia and eucalyptus compatible?
Comments (8)Apparently the Eucalypts most prone to dropping large limbs are the smooth-barked ones. You are said to be safe with ironbarks, but I'd like to be more sure of this before planting them close to a house, all the same. Yes, Almeria, the greedy roots thing is often complained of here, with people saying that there is no point watering under eucalypts to get other plants to grow, as all you're doing is watering the eucalypts. There are more than a thousand species of eucalypt, including, some truly beautiful SMALL ones, with the western Australian mallees at the top of the list in my view. There are also some truly superb grafted eucalypts which should be quite safe near houses as they don't get very tall. You'd probably know already if you had any of these, by their extremely showy flowers. You can see that none of us want you to grow an environmental weed, but don't let this put you off Australian plants, as there are literally thousands of them which would do well in your climate. Before planting wattles, read up a bit on the lifespan, and see whether you're happy with what's on offer. There is a tendency for the showiest ones to be short-lived (ten years or so). Acacia decora is an exception. What about the emu bushes, Eremophila species? Can you get them over there? Their botanic name means "desert-lovers". There are several hundred species. They are showy in flower, and many of them are also good screens. (e.g. Eremophila maculata.) Trish...See Moremichaelaravanis
8 years agowisconsitom
8 years agowisconsitom
8 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
8 years agohoovb zone 9 sunset 23
8 years agoshaxhome (Frog Rock, Australia 9b)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
8 years agohoovb zone 9 sunset 23
8 years agoshaxhome (Frog Rock, Australia 9b)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoDebra Wells-Hutcherson
6 years agoshaxhome (Frog Rock, Australia 9b)
6 years agoDebra Wells-Hutcherson
6 years agoMariana
4 years agoPablo Miraglia
3 years ago
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