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Arizona Gardening

Need help with my mesquite tree

6 years ago

I have one mesquite tree that blooms beautifully every season with green leaves, but shortly thereafter (right about mid to end of June) the older leaves turn yellow and fall off while the new growth still comes in a vigorous green (they too will turn yellow and fall off in a few weeks though). It has done this for the past 3 seasons. I have increased watering and give it a deep soak for about 5-6 hours once a week. It also gets water on emitters daily as do my other mesquites which are growing just fine. It is just this one mesquite that has a problem.

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Comments (3)

User
6 years ago
That's a LOT of watering for mesquites. If that tree is in an area that drains poorly, you might be drowning it. Then it looks stressed and loses leaves so you water more ...

I'd stop watering them all as soon as the monsoons start. Remove the emitters reduce the deep watering to once a month. Next year, maybe one thorough soaking in May and one in June.
Lily Roberts
6 years ago
Welcome to the world of mesquite. They are such messy trees and drop things most of the year, especially summer.
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PRO
Moon Valley Nurseries
6 years ago
We agree with lazy_gardens. It sounds like an awful lot of water for Mesquite trees. These are arid plants and like to dry out completely before each watering. May want to take them off the regular drip line and just hit them with the deep watering once a week right now. That should be plenty for established trees.

One reason you may be seeing this with only one tree could also be that area is heavy in caliche which isn't allowing for drainage and your other trees may have better draining soil around them. Out here it is crazy, but you can have pockets of clay soil just feet away from good draining soil.

If you have more questions on watering and care for desert trees you can check out our website, we have some good care guides and information and here is the link to our established care guide for desert trees ( https://www.moonvalleynurseries.com/tree-care/watering-basics ), this should help too!
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