Bay Tree losing the will to live... eek!

[magz.mccarthy]

Hi,

I got a Bay tree in October from homebase and planted it in my allotment. It was around 2 foot high with a good load of green leaves. I dug a big hole for it and planted it at the same depth that it was at in it's own pot. I filled the rest of the hole with general compost.

It seemed to be impressively happy all through the winter, but on my last few visits to the allotment it is looking very sad. Its leaves have gone dry, hard and brown and very few of them are still green. I have a heavy clay soil but it is sitting in a large section of fresh compost.

Any thoughts on what may be killing my poor tree?

Margaret

[Nicos]

cold???
Mine have been nipped during that cold spell- but it's taken a couple of weeks for the leaves to go brown.
Similar thing happened last year but it perked up.
Interestingly though the potted bay is fine although it's next to the house so may not have been chilled quite as much. My soil is a bit clayey and very cold at the moment- so I suppose the roots might have been chilled too much??

[Flummery]

Wind doesn't do them any good either. Once a bay gets going I find it's nearly indestructible but I'd keep one in a pot for the first year maybe to ensure it was going well. Mine's in the ground after being in a pot for a couple of years. I has to be restrained at a height of 6ft!

[magz.mccarthy]

Woah 6 foot! That's a lot of leaves!

Would it benefit from being under a fleece? I guess the damage is done now though.

[Flummery]

Fleece might help it to recover. If it doesn't, cosset the next one in its pot for a year or two. Then you can always cover or bring it into a greenhouse in winter initially. when you're sure it's tough, try it in the soil.

[Snadger]

I've had mine for two years in a pot and recently had to gring it into the greenhouse as the frost had turned a lot of the leaves brown! Hopefully it will recover!

[kitchengardner]

Hi,

I got a Bay tree in October from homebase and planted it in my allotment. It was around 2 foot high with a good load of green leaves. I dug a big hole for it and planted it at the same depth that it was at in it's own pot. I filled the rest of the hole with general compost.

It seemed to be impressively happy all through the winter, but on my last few visits to the allotment it is looking very sad. Its leaves have gone dry, hard and brown and very few of them are still green. I have a heavy clay soil but it is sitting in a large section of fresh compost.

Any thoughts on what may be killing my poor tree?

Margaret

It will be the combination of cold & wet we have had this year, in heavy clay soils your tree will have frozen in the roots. Remove all the browned leaves, cover around the base with straw and if a heavy frost is protected fleece the tree. If you are lucky it will recover in the next few weeks as the weather improves. If not you will need to replace it. If this is the case dig your hole 8" deeper than you need and then backfill with sharp sand. This will dramatically improve the drainage and so reduce the risk of the roots freezing next year. Regardless, if your plot is prone to frosts then I would recommend using straw and fleece to protect the tree in winter

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[kentvegplot]

It's often the wind that does the damage. Plants react to too much wind (which causes them to transpire too much) by closing the 'pores' (stomata) on the leaves. These pores let in the gases needed for photosynthesis - so you end up with a plant that isn't producing any food for itself, and it will die.

I agree with the others - improve the drainage as well. Although you planted it in new compost, it may be that the clay soil has created a pan, a waterproof bowl around the plant so that rain has 'sat' in that all winter.

I do hope it recovers - good luck!

[magz.mccarthy]

This is very true, the drainage is very poor all over my plot. I stuck the fork into the edges of the hole i dug before refilling it in the hope that this would provide some drainage, but judging from the puddles that are all over the rest of the plot, it may not have worked out too well for the little fella.

I'm planting an aloe vera plant this weekend and got lots of nice stones to put deep underneath it to increase drainage, i may relocate the poor bay tree next to it to benefit aswell.