Monkey puzzle tree advice.
sue1288
Posts: 1
Hi I have had a Monkey Puzzle tree for coming up to 20 years now and it has grown very healthy and got very big. However now I have a issue, something I have never seen it do before.
One of the bottom branches and all the smaller branches that follow off from that branch at the bottom of the Tree has gone brown. I have never seen it do this in all the 20 or so years of having it.
This is not mine but mine is a bigger version of this looks very similar!
My tree looks just like that, just a bit taller. Imagine that on one of that Tree's bottom branches has gone completely brown and all branches that branch off from that branch.
So, should I be worried is this a health issue with the tree or something normal?
I will point out that it is just one branch, big one at the bottom that has gone brown. The rest of the Tree is completely green and normal just like the one in that pic.
Thanks for any help.
Last edited: 18 October 2017 12:05:56
Posts
Much like Scot's Pine they naturally lose their lower branches as they grow older. I couldn't tell you why; at a guess the lower branches eventually become more of a burden to the tree overall (take more than they give), they may typically move into shade as it gets more branches above.
There might be a point soon at which you decide not to let it get any taller, whether that would stop the loss of lower branches or not, I'm afraid I don't know.
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/araucaria.
Monkey Puzzles tend to lose lower branches as they grow, self pruning if you like, which gives the tree its distinctive canopy at maturity.
There’s not much you can do beyond removing dead branches and hoping.
Diarmuid Gavin
Maybe , like the giant redwoods in N.America , their lower branches periodically drop to reduce the risk of a potential 'fire-ladder' . I think it's called 'evanescence' ; meaning to simply fade away !
To stop Araucaria getting taller you would have to cut out the growing tip , which would lead to extensive die-back and serious damage to the tree .
I certainly wouldn't cut the top off our tree - it is natural for trees to grow to their full height, and Monkey Puzzle trees are naturally VERY tall.
Last edited: 18 October 2017 23:13:52
Hello GD2
'took many years to get into its stride' ; this is absolutely correct . Their growth cycle can be very erratic , and some years they don't grow at all .
My only regret is that other members of this very attractive genus were hardy enough to grow here
.
One where I lived had these massive seeds drop to the floor and I mean massive. I would hate to have one fall on my head..?
Last edited: 19 October 2017 22:10:28
We have never had any seeds on ours Kate - perhaps it isn't old enough or not warm enough to produce seed....yet. You are right Paul, not only did it take about 10 years to "get going", some years there is certainly more of a growth spurt than others.
In retrospect it would have been better to plant a native tree, but it was a gift for my daughter for her Christening and I must admit it is nice to have a statement tree in the centre of the front lawn. Now that she has returned to live in the house, she can look out at her tree every day.
Mine has bomb like seedheads which explode into a shrapnel of razor sharp seeds when they hit the ground. I actually go out with a dustpan and brush to clear them up because otherwise the mower spits them out at a lethal rate when I'm cutting the lawn. It's the only thing I dislike about the tree.
just remember the seeds are edible, its how they were originally brought back, some explorer (can't remember his name) got offered them for nibbles in Chile, thought they were nice a brought a few thousand home.
On my bus journey into the city I pass a Monkey Puzzle which was decapitated a few years ago ... it is quite the most pathetic and ridiculous looking thing I've seen in a long while
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.