Arbutus: New Arbutus Marina's are struggling

Discussion in 'Ericaceae (rhododendrons, arbutus, etc.)' started by hanfrac, Jul 12, 2009.

  1. hanfrac

    hanfrac Member

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    Location:
    Menlo Park, CA, USA
    About 2 months ago, we had 3 potted trees transplanted into a sunny location in the front of our house.

    1 tree seems to be doing relatively well. The other 2 look pretty bad - lots of dead, yellow leaves, if you shake the tree, leaves come flying off in bunches, bark is peeling badly, trees are growing much less slowly than the happy one, look pretty unhappy in general.

    We have been giving the trees a solid watering once a week (10-15 gallons). I've loosed up the soil around the trees (it was pretty crusty and probably wasn't draining great) and added some grass clippings and leaves to the soil.

    Is this transplant shock? Are there any steps I should take immediately?

    We are in Northern California - no rain at all for the next 5 months. There are rose bushes near the trees that are fed with drip lines, but not very close to the bulb root.

    Thanks in advance for any advice. We don't want these to die.
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Sounds like the two are a loss. Since you are having trouble, try something else as replacements - maybe ending up with three different trees instead of a set of all one kind. If each tree is a different kind, it does not matter if they don't all match up in size.
     
  3. hanfrac

    hanfrac Member

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    Location:
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    Really? You can tell my description that they're going to die? Is it worth having a tree expert coming out to provide any guidance on how to save them or at this point, if a tree is in trouble, it's a lost cause?

    Thanks,
     

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