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Persian Silk Tree

Smiffy54Smiffy54 Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Hi all. I have a beautiful Persian Silk tree, ( Albizia julibrissin), in my garden. I planted this tree almost 15 years ago when it was around 3ft tall. Since then it has flourished and is now over 20ft tall. Over the years it has had an amazing show of bright red silky flowers in the summer. The foliage is beautiful, and the leaves close up at night. However, in recent years I have noticed a decline in it's growth. The main problem is that around the beginning of May the tree should start to bud all over, but the tree has complete branch systems that show no sign of life at all. Not just small branches, but main branches that only last year were budded all the way up to the top. Usually this tree doesn't require any pruning, but at the moment there are some branches that have lots of new growth and others that have none. I'm not sure what's going on. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be, or even if it's a problem at all. I don't want to start pruning large branches just in case I'm being a bit premature. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Steve. 

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I am not a tree expert but what I do know is they can take a long time to die. I hope someone can help you.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I inherited two and one was chopped down severely when the Leylandii hedge it was growing though was reduced in height. No sign of that one, probably killed off, but the other one is only now putting out tiny leaflets which I think is fairly late for my location. I suspect the first leaf buds got severely bitten by a prolonged frost we had earlier so could that be a possibility? Drought or severe waterlogging sometime in the last year to two is another. Climactic conditions are often at the root of tree decline - as Suze says, trees can take a long time to die and we don’t really know what’s going on underground.

    Another possibility is if the ground deep underneath is compacted or rocky, it can just stop growing as the roots have nowhere else to go. The bigger the tree the bigger the root system needed to support top growth.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Smiffy54Smiffy54 Posts: 3
    Thank you for your reply Nollie. That's very interesting. So sad... as I'm pretty attached to this tree. It was a birthday gift and I brought it with me from another house. It only thrived here in this garden. Thanks again. 🙋‍♂️
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    We inherited one of these when we moved here in 2016.  No gardening had been done for at least 3 years before and the bed in which it sat was overgrown with weeds despite layers of weed fabric with stones and a few dead plants as well as dead stems on the tree itself.

    We waited till autumn to clear all the rubble beneath it and remove dead stems as well as lift the crown.   We found the soil below very compacted and poor so on went loads of compost for the rains and worms to work in over winter.   We lifted the crown and planted spring bulbs and some perennials that cope with dry conditions.

    It's doing fine now so maybe you could do something similar and prune out all the dead stuff then give it a mulch after a good rainfall so you don't lock in dryness.   Ours is planted on a base of volcanic schist which is very hard.


    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
  • Smiffy54Smiffy54 Posts: 3
    Thanks for your reply Obelixx. The soil here is generally very good, not compacted at all. This garden is quite tropical and everything grows really well and lush. I'll just keep my eye on this tree and possibly trim out the dead eventually when I can get a better idea of what it's doing. Thanks again. 🙋‍♂️
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    You could try giving it a general fertiliser as a boost.   

    The only disease I think it is likely to get is verticillium wilt which has occurred in specimens grown in the USA tho it doesn't yet feature on the RHS list of susceptible plants.   Make sure when you prune any dead branches that you use clean, sharp tools and clean them again immediately afterwards, just in case.  This article on the RHS website tells you how to identify if VW is the problem - https://www.rhs.org.uk/disease/verticillium-wilt

    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
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Well it sounds as if your ground isn’t a problem, so don’t give up yet! Try Obelixx’s remedy and I hope it perks up for you.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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