Not in the Slightest Bit Horsey - Bay Tree is Dying!

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

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Bought D a plaited Bay Tree years ago. It's flourished and done well, but now it's suddenly dying!! :(:(:(

It's in a large pot. D says that when he waters it the water is sitting on the surface.

Can't plant it in the ground as we are going to move from here and it needs to go with us.

Any suggestions???

I'm not in the slightest bit green fingered, more slightly black thumbed really... :(

(also posted in Soapbox :)).
 
Sounds like either the pot has compacted or the nutrients are just exhaused.

Try using a long BBQ skewer to poke holes down into the pot to loosen the soil and let the water through. Ideally - if the pot is big enough - you could take the tree out and loosen the soil, replacing it with fresh soil / compost mix. You do need a really big pot for a tree - thier roots spread out far more than shrubs do.

If you haven't already make sure there are drain holes in the bottom of the pot.

Once you can get water down to the roots rather than sitting on the surface you can try adding a bit of feed. Not a lot - I use miracle grow twice a year on my potted trees.

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is to watch out for copper. If you have any decorations or anything like that pinned to the tree don't do it with copper nails. Copper kills trees very effectively.
 
Best way to water anything thoroughly is dump it in water for a while but make sure it can drain well.
 
Definitely put it in a bigger pot with fresh compost surrounding it. Make sure you rough off the edges before your transfer it so the roots are poking outwards. I'd be willing to bet its dying as a combination of being pot bound and having taken all the nutrients out of the pot its in. Before you transplant it soak it thoroughly in a bucket, transplanting them when they are dry can be too much of a shock for them.

Are you giving it any liquid feed? Anything big like that will benefit from liquid feed when you water it. Your local garden centre can recommend the best one, alternatively i'd recommend soaking some shredded nettles in a bucket for a few days. Makes a very potent fertiliser.
 
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