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Hornbeam

jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6
in Problem solving
Hi, Hoping someone can help me see where I'm going wrong, I planted 3 Hornbeam fastigate tree's on root balls. I see the one that monty planted at a similar time this year  has established much faster than mine. They only have very small leaves and don't seem to be growing much at all. Do i need to start worrying? or can i do anything to help them establish more quickly?

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Can you tell us more about your trees please? 
    Where they've been planted, soil conditions etc, and the care that you've been giving them etc. a photo or two may also give us some clues  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    ...and what size were they on planting?
    Mature specimens of anything need more careful attention and preparation than smaller, younger ones.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6
  • jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6
    Hope these pictures help, I’ve planted them on clay soil which can be wet at times. I was assured this wouldnt be a problem with hornbeams?

    I have watered them once per week since planting in March, but that’s about all. 

    Can I do anything more to care for them? 
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    edited June 2018
    Any chance you can get a few close-ups of ones with a few leaves? The top two photos don't look that alive to me at the moment. But, are they taken in very early spring and the bottom one recently?

    They are quite mature specimens, and therefore harder to transplant into gardens. The planting holes and soil preparations will need to be a lot larger, and then finished off with a very thick layer of mulch to help them settle.

    When you say water once a week, it needs to be a proper water, especially recently, when the weather has warmed up, you need an absolute minimum of a full bucket each tree. Watering in the evenings or early morning to get the most from watering. In heat of over 23 degrees, watering every 3 days if no rain for over a week.
  • jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6
    Thanks, yes the first pictures are from very early spring, the leaves are growing but just very slowly. 

    Ill start to do as you suggest and hopefully will see a difference soon. 

    I wasn’t sure if I had damaged the root ball when staking which had in turn affected the growth? 
  • jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    If you put the stakes in after it's been planted rather than it already being in place, then there is a small possibility you may have damaged a bit of root area, but I doubt, enough to kill a plant. But a small possibility in knocking it back.

    The leaves are growing on all plants, that's a good sign. Just concentrate on topping up with more mulch to keep the plants cool in hot weather. Even though you have clay soil, in the hotter months, on un-conditioned clay based soils, they can turn into hard concrete on the top layers, causing newly planted plants to suffer. That is why a very thick mulch is needed to protect the roots.
  • jamesbrierley1jamesbrierley1 Posts: 6
    Thank you! 

    Youve been a great help, I’ll do that and hopefully see some improvement 
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