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Dying Salix. HELP please!!

DeNiro10DeNiro10 Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Hi all
I've had a Salix “Flamingo” in my garden for several years now, and people comment on how lovely it is.
However, about 3 weeks ago the leaves started going brown and it looks like it's dying!!!
I've scraped the bark lightly with my thumbnail and it’s green underneath which I believe is a good sign.
I've attached a couple of photos. The second photo shows some green branches, so maybe there’s some hope 😕Can anyone tell me if I can save my beautiful shrub please?

PS The final picture shows what it looked like in early July.

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Thirst!   It's a willow so water, water, water and more water.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Water water water and more water  ... Salix are incredibly thirsty plants. 

    We’ve just had a dry winter/spring and a hot dry spell and your tree is in a very sheltered spot where it will not have got much of what little rain there had been, and it has a huge head of foliage to support which will also have acted like an umbrella. 

    Make sure there’s a clear circle of bare soil 1m in diameter at the base, and give it two buckets full of water every day for a week, then two buckets every other day from now until mid September. 

    From next March give two buckets of water every other day until mid September and the same every year, even if it rains. 

    Pour the water slowly so that it soaks in and doesn’t run off the surface. 

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





  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Snap! @Obelixx 🤣 

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





  • DeNiro10DeNiro10 Posts: 3
    Hi Dovefromabove & Obelixx.
    Thank you both very much  for your advise. I have been watering it, but in nowhere near the quantities you've both suggested.
    I'll get to it straight away. Thank you again.  :)
    PS:- Do I leave all the brown leaves as they are? 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    They'll fall off by themselves so yes, leave them.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DeNiro10DeNiro10 Posts: 3
    OK.
    Thank you.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    Drought combined with sunburn. The tips of each stem have no chloraphyll which reduced the plant's resistance to stress. If the plant is green under the bark it is still alive. Lots of water and a sun hat!
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