Sick Hornbeam - Brown patches on some leaves

Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:20 pm

Hi There, I wonder if anyone can help? My 40 yr. old hornbeam has developed brown and drying out patches on some leaves. the patches are on the ends of the leaves, mostly on one side (going right through the leaf).
There are some tiny bits of root showing out of the drainage holes. the soil is staying quite wet. I 've had this tree for a year and a half.
I have not fed or repotted it yet because it was looking fine and had vigorous growth , but i did take of some leaves when we had a very hot spell about 5 weeks ago, ( i thought it may give it a better chance of weathering the heat). It is in quite a big pot, but after reading the info on pots on this site it seems OK size wise. Many thanks for your help!

Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:57 am

Denise,

I'm not sure but it is not uncommon for broadleaved trees to begin to show some distress this time of year. Has it been allowed to dry out more than usual or have you moved it to a more exposed location?

I assume you looked it over for any sign of insect activity. You should be feeding it and should probably plan on re-potting it next spring but I doubt that these are the cause of the browning.

This might help a little.
http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Carpinus.html

Norm

Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:39 am

Hi Norm, thanks for your response!
It has not been moved, it's in a shady area, gets a bit of evening sun. We have not allowed it to dry out! we have learned from experience and losing 2 trees unfortunately that water is vital! and a tree can dry out in a day if in the wrong spot!
I have checked for insects. There was one very tiny green caterpiller which I of course removed, it had been eating only a couple of leaves. there were a few ants and tiny spiders which made me think they were after some kind of fly/aphid, so I left them on. I saw a couple of tiny insects but not aphids.
What do you think Norm?