Pleached Tree Help - what to do

[PeteM123]

Hi All,

 

Looking for some advice to help with my tree problem. We bought 10 expensive pleached photinia red robin trees about a 1.5 years ago...sadly seems our gardener didn't have a clue about planting trees and clay soil and one died after about 6 months. I then replanted all of them myself removing the clay soil as best as possible and improving the drainage. Most of them are doing fine but one isn't....it was massively over watered by accident and I didn't remove enough clay soil and mulched too much. I took it out and sorted the soil as well as drying it out....I inspected the roots and they seemed ok. Question is whether I should remove the leaves to help the energy of the plant or just leave it alone? I dont want to feed it but seems to be getting into a poorer state each day. Thoughts appreciated.

Edited July 23, 2022 by PeteM123
typos

[Lowestoft Firewood]

Lack of water / poor soil imo. Also fiddling with the roots probably didn't help after they'd begun establishing 

[Stere]

I am not surprised  one looks dead after being dug up and the roots disturbed

 

Im not sure  clay soil being waterlogged /poor drainage was the problem but hard to say for sure without knowing how wet the ground  was in winter.

 

More likely being too dry is the issue atm but it maybe its  both too wet in winter and now to too dry in summer.

 

Trees that size need alot of watering a  mulch to retain the water and any  grass excluded for a few yrs until they get established.

 

 

[PeteM123]

Thanks all. I'll keep a close watch - give it a little water. All the other trees are fine and seems to like the dryer ground for some reason. FYI, I live in scotland and they normally get a good drop of rain every week. 

 

Will keep the leaves on and clear the grass away too. Fingers crossed and I'll not look at tinkering too much.

[daltontrees]

To answer your question.

Leave the leaves alone. Interfere as little as you have to. If the tree wants to shed leaves it will. Pulling them off and letting in infection or eliminating the possibility of them recovering or setting new buds is not a good idea.

The pelaching set-up you have is basically perfect for maximising moisture loss from leaves, it is a big whirligig. So you can expect the trees to be a little thirstier than a non pleaced tree of the same stem diameter and scorch. Mulching will do more for them than additional watering will.