"Dead" Bay Trees

steveconwayukXUXsXhj5 · August 2020

We inherited two lovely cork screw Bay trees in planters several years ago. They needed a lot of help to get back to health but looked good for around 5 years with tender loving care, spray for bugs, top up of soil and a little fertiliser.
This year, following the hot weather, despite regular watering, both have now gone crispy brown and are to all intents are looking dead. The fancy polished granite type planters have split at the corners and I wonder if this is due to the root ball growing and expanding it.
I have pruned it back hoping this will help it recover.
I believe that it should be beneficial to repot them. (larger pot).
Any comments will be welcome but I would particularly like to know if I can repot it now or if I should wait for a particular time to do it?

punkdoc · August 2020

I think we need a picture, because there is no point repotting them if they are dead.

Dovefromabove · August 2020

I expect they're potbound ... the roots will have circled and circled and filled the compost, which is by now exhausted anyway and they'll be no room to take up any water ... so when you water the containers and the water drains out of the pot you don't realise that it's running straight through and not soaking into the pots, so the roots are suffering from drought even though you're watering. The fact that the planters have split means that what water is given will have been draining out of the cracks.

Scrape the bark with your thumbnail ... if you find a green layer beneath the surface it may be possible to save the trees if the root balls are not too compacted.

Remove them from the containers and try to gently tease out the roots without damaging them ... damaging the roots is likely to result in suckering. Repot them in larger containers ........ they will need a mix of John Innes No 3 loam-based compost and horticultural grit at a ratio of approx 4:1.

I would do it now ... if they're dying now is the optimum time to try to save them.

I repot mine every 2 or 3 years and in between I remove the top few inches of compost and replace with fresh each spring.

Fairygirl · August 2020

Photo - yes- but the fact that the planters have split suggests very strongly that they're severely root bound as @Dovefromabove has said, and will have been struggling for a while.
The water will definitely be getting 'lost' too, which makes it even harder for them, and once dried out, it needs care to get them rehydrated properly.

rwest78rw · September 2020

Friend of mine had a bay in a large container. Was fine then all of a sudden it wasn't. Lack of watering I think. Anyway had all gone brown and looked completely dead. A few months later and with a bit more watering it had new growth. Now looks great again. So I wouldn't give up just yet. They're bloomin' tough!

Fairygirl · September 2020

Well - the OP never came back with more info, despite our requests.
Judging by his previous 'visit' to the forum, I'm not offering anything else. You can only do so much to help folk

Dovefromabove · September 2020

I’d seen his previous post when I replied to this one ... thought I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and offer him the advice he’d asked for ... I suppose he could’ve been knocked down by a bus ... or his wifi has gone down
... the alternative thought is that he simply has no manners ... oh well, we tried to help ... it would be good to think we’ve helped him save his trees anyway. 🌳 🚪 🌳

Lyn · September 2020

That must be some root in there to split a granite planter.
Perhaps they caught some of the lawn spray he used.

"Dead" Bay Trees

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