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Empress tree and Edworthia
getsusan
Posts: 3
Hi, i hope someone can help! last year our empress tree shed its leaves in early summer. This year half of the tree is dead and the leaves are starting to drop again. They are covered in brown spots. There are no lesions or growths on the tree and no sign of pests, though there is what looks like mildew on the bark.
and then today i noticed our edgeworthia has started to droop 
these plants sit in line with each other. we were told that years ago there was a beautiful walnut tree in the garden, in the spot now occupied by the empress tree, which was killed when an underground water source became contaminated. Could this be whats affecting them and if so what can we do?
if not what is wrong with them?
0
Posts
I don't know too much about trees, but it's obviously distressing to see two special trees/shrub to suffer this way. How long have you had the Empress tree. From what I know, this tree is a very fast growing. You mentioned something about an underground water source that had become contaminated. The question is, have these roots hit an area underground that is currently contaminated. I hope someone with more knowledge with trees can offer more advice, but it is definitely stressed.
What kind of soil do you garden on? Edgeworthia is a tricky and tender plant. Is it planted in a sheltered part of your garden? It looks like it's had some kind of stress. They grow best in humus rich soils. Is it possible you had some very nice warm days and it's put on a lot of growth, then overnight, there had been some frost?
Last edited: 09 June 2017 18:56:10
Your foxglove-tree (Paulownia tomentosa) looks infected with Phyllosticta leaf-spot . Treating a mature tree is nearly impossible . Maybe no option but to dispose of and burn .
The garden I work in has lost many specimen trees and shrubs over the years to another denizen of the underworld (Armillaria spp.) , commonly known as boot-lace or honey-fungus ; yet again , no effective treatments available anymore.
Thanks folks, i think you're right Paul 23 I think it's Phyllosticta on the empress tree, does that mean we should cut off and burn all the dead bits and hope the rest survives or is it all a goner?
A friend of mine who is a horticulturalist suggested that the Edgeworthia may have become waterlogged in last weeks extreme torrential rains, it would have had a pretty immediate effect, on this fairly sensitive plant, which seems to be what happened, so i'm going to wait and see what happens.
The diagnosis on the Edgeworthia sounds logical ; give it a chance to recover .
Foxglove-trees readily regenerate from the base if cut completely to ground ; this sounds drastic , but the larger new leaves may by free of the disease . Cannot promise anything , since all effective chemical treatments seem to have been banned by our friends in the EU .