Bay tree help!

[Charlotte82]

Hi,

I'm relatively new to gardening and have a problem with a bay tree that I'm hoping someone can advise me on. As you can hopefully see from the pictures attached something strange has happened.

Initially the main stem all died off and someone advised me to remove the leaves. Now a new shoot has started growing. I have no idea what to do. Does it need repotting? What do I do with the old stem?

Any guidance will be greatfully appreciated.

Charlotte

[Capsid]

I'm not sure the main stem is dead actually. It still has a green colour to it which means it is alive. One way to check is to scrape a small bit of the bark off and if there is a green layer underneath then it is still living. If it is alive then I would just leave it for now and wait for new buds/leaves to form, cutting out any dead branches where new buds/leaves aren't forming. If the main stem really is dead then cut it back to ground level and allow the new shoot to replace it which may take a few years obviously, but you will still have leaves for your cooking.

Did you let it dry out? Maybe that is why it dropped its leaves.

[Charlotte82]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for that I shall investigate and see if there are signs of life on the main part!! Unfortunately I did neglect it a bit but when I started to water it regularly the new shoot started to grow.

Charlotte

[bazzaboy]

hello Charlotte, big welcome to this Forum. It would be useful if you could add to your basic details some indication of where you are as it can make a big difference.

Regarding your bay tree, I agree with Capsid's advice of "just leave it for now" as any drastic action such as repotting or pruning/removing the original stem could add to its distress. Even so it clearly needs some TLC.... Bay trees are quite expensive to buy because not easy to propagate but quite tough once established: however in a pot they need fairly careful tending as they are trying to grow into a 50' tree!

The good news is that this one is alive and is trying to adjust to the conditions in which it finds itself.... What you can do to help it in its struggle to survive is to make these "conditions" as friendly and supportive as possible - soil, aspect, temperature, water etc. It's getting cooler now as Autumn gets going but I suspect over the summer the brickwork it's adjacent to has sometimes got pretty warm... bay is fairly shallow rooted so the top soil could have got pretty dry and hot whereas it needed to be damp and cool...

Also have you fed it over the Summer? A little general fertiliser might not go amiss - but don't overdo it! - and a mulch of bark or even horticultural grit/gravel might help to keep that upper level of soil damper and cooler.

Now that Winter is approaching its environment is significantly changing and it's going to get cold and possibly freeze, so roots in a pot are going to face a new threat.... Difficult to give precise advice on this as depends on circumstances but consider possibly relocating the pot or various protection options.

I'm sure it'll pull through as long as you are there to pamper it a bit! If you can get it through the Winter it'll reward your attentions by putting on a growth spurt next Spring! Hope so.... b.

[Two_Sheds]

Bay hates windy conditions. It's best place would be against a west-facing wall, where it can get maximum sunshine and warmth (but remember to water it)

[Charlotte82]

Thank you everyone for your help. I shall try and tend to my bay like a good gardener from now on. It's all so complicated when you start gardening!!

[Two_Sheds]

It's all so complicated when you start gardening!!

It can seem that way. Anything new is complicated and confusing. (just read my desperate pleas for help in the winemaking forum!)

Plants, basically want what we humans want: warmth, light, water, shelter and food, in varying degrees.

[womble]

Plants, basically want what we humans want: warmth, light, water, shelter and food, in varying degrees.

And the desperate urge to reproduce, don't forget that, the only difference, is that we want to practice alot at it, plants just want to go straight to the nitty gritty and get on with it.

[sweetcorn]

My bay tree is in a pot and over last winter I thought I'd lost it - its leaves went brown and crispy and fell off and it looked pretty much like a bunch of sticks. However, during this summer it has come back really healthily, so don't despair! I think I will be taking it into the greenhouse for this winter, though, just to be on the safe side. I gave it a good top dressing of fresh soil in the spring and have periodically fed it and tended it more carefully. So good luck with yours!

[womble]

My small bay tree is in the ground, at anything around -3 or -4 and below I stick an upturned dustbin over it for the night, otherwise all the leaves die as sweetcorn says.
Trouble is I've looked after it too well for a couple of years and now it's getting a bit big to stick a dustbin over!

They're supposed to be hardier as they get bigger, don't see how that works meself, it's still the same leaves? Innit?

[piskieinboots]

You could also use that side shoot to take a cutting - as an insurance policy, it's not the easiest thing to strike but worth a go.

Cut it away from the main stem so that you have a heel, you want the cutting to be approx 9-15cms long, strike it into a gritty compost and cover it with a poly bag, high humidity is very important - if you have a heated propogator to hand even better. Keep it in a cold frame out of wind.