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Dwarf Pinus Mugo - Dead?

mtuk100mtuk100 Posts: 2
edited September 2021 in Problem solving
Can anyone advise why my two dwarf pinus mugos which I planted only a couple of months ago have gone brown with only a little green at the top of the plant.  Are they dead?

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited September 2021
    They don't look too lively.
    Have you been watering them regularly? They need a lot until properly established, which takes a long time.
    Planting in summer is always more risky because of lack of water, especially in drier parts of the country. 

    Something's been digging next to the 2nd one too, which won't have helped.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Try cleaning them up by carefully removing all the dead stuff and see what you think then.
    If you planted them only a couple of months ago and you prepped the soil well and kept watered, it could just be a case of a bit of a shock for them and they will need time to establish properly. There looks to be a fair number of other plants surrounding which may result in a bit of competition for a new plant :)  
  • mtuk100mtuk100 Posts: 2
    Thanks for the feedback.  They have been watered regularly and, if anything, I was concerned that I may have watered too much!  On a slope so I guess water could have drained away.  The hole you see is where I just removed an expensive dwarf Acer which has died.  The gardener who planted to plants thought the Acer roots may have been too wet... hmmm.  All the other plants I had planted (it is a new rockery) are doing fine.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Have a poke around in at the base of it @mtuk100, and see what it's like.
    Pines of any kind need quite decent soil, with enough leaf mould or organic matter in it to sustain them. I'm not sure I'd ever plant one in a rockery environment, unless there was suitable peaty soil and enough water on a regular basis - rainwater. 
    If it's under a canopy of other planting, that will affect it too.

    There may have been other reasons for the Acer failing, but it's very hard to judge from a couple of photos unfortunately. Pines would normally like similar conditions to Acers, but the soil structure and the drainage are important for both.
     
    It could well just be a bit of transplant shock as @philippasmith2 says.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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