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Bay Tree Sun & Heat Damage

ap1927ap1927 Posts: 8
in Problem solving
Hi
I planted a healthy green Bay Tree in a Terracotta pot outside my front door back in June, everything was fine until we had the extreme late heat late in the summer.
The leaves changed from a healthy green to a light green colour, they started to curl & shrivel slightly and were not soft to touch anymore.

I spoke to someone at Kew Gardens who recommended changing the terracotta pot to one that holds water better, so I did that. They also suggested I apply liquid seaweed every week or 2 which I’ve also done.

Now 6 weeks later the leaves have turned a golden reddish colour, see pic.

Am I fighting a losing battle with this Bay Tree?

Even though I added lots of grit and sharp sand to the pest free compost, I also fear waterlogging now that I have a pot that holds water better.

Any help / advice would be much appreciated!

Andy
Ap1927
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Posts

  • ap1927ap1927 Posts: 8
    Peat free not pest free!
    Ap1927
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    I looks terminal to me.  Lokk for signs of life.

    The damage was probably too much heat and too little water when the leaves were young.

    I use John Innes No 3 compost for stablity; my mopheads will otherwise blow over i strong winds
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • ap1927ap1927 Posts: 8
    Thanks, I’ve checked and there’s no sign of life on the tree. Unless someone else has had the same problem and can advise me on what to do then I’ll get another one.

    Thats £50 gone down the drain :(


    Ap1927
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Toward the top of the main stem, give the skin of the bark a scrape with a fingernail - just remove the thin surface.
    If you can see any green, then it's alive
    If there's no sign of green, then that bit is dead.
    You can try again lower down and check again.
    If you get the the bottom of the main stem and still no green then it's dead.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • muckyhandsmikemuckyhandsmike Posts: 239
    ap1927 said:
    Thanks, I’ve checked and there’s no sign of life on the tree. Unless someone else has had the same problem and can advise me on what to do then I’ll get another one.

    Thats £50 gone down the drain :(


    I never pay that much in case it snuffs it ! I bought one a while back for £4.99 and it’s in a pot with gritty compost and a grit layer on top and it’s going well. It seems to have survived the hot spells ok, I have it next to the back wall of our house, part sun, part shade fwiw
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    You'd be better buying something else more suited to the conditions. If you buy a smaller, cheaper bay tree, they grow really fast when they're in the right conditions.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Bay tree seedlings come up like weeds in my garden.  From a neighbour's female tree.  I grow them in pots and in the open ground.

     In a local garden centre, I have seen pots (over)crammed with small seedlings that will grow rapidly.  Try to seek these out.   Not £50!
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Young bay trees are quite tender and prefer to be in a sheltered position, away from cold and/or hot drying winds and the full glare of the sun which will crisp the (now dead) young foliage like that. I’ve grown a lollipop one in a terracotta pot in a much warmer climate than the UK, so long as you keep them well watered that shouldn’t have been an issue. Poor drainage and soggy roots will do for them though, so better to raise the pot off the ground to allow excess water to drain away and not have too claggy a potting mix (not pure JI No.3 for example, but mixed with some mpc and grit).

    Try Pete.8’s scratch test and if there is signs of life in the main stems, move it to a sheltered position against a wall and off the ground on pot feet for winter. Keep it just moist but not sodden. Throw a fleece over it if heavy frost is forecast. It may well recover next spring.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • ap1927ap1927 Posts: 8
    Pete.8 said:
    Toward the top of the main stem, give the skin of the bark a scrape with a fingernail - just remove the thin surface.
    If you can see any green, then it's alive
    If there's no sign of green, then that bit is dead.
    You can try again lower down and check again.
    If you get the the bottom of the main stem and still no green then it's dead.
    It’s still alive. There’s green under the bark.

    Do you think I should leave it?


    Ap1927
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Great news!
    Yes, just leave it.
    The old leaves will drop and it will produce new shoots next spring.
    See how it looks around April/May then you'll know what bits to chop off as there will be some dead bits.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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