It it looks dead, is it dead?

kellid123 · Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:09 pm

I planted a Rose of Sharon tree a few months ago, and it took off producing lots of beautiful green leaves and then about a week ago-beautiful purple blooms. These blooms did drop after a day or so off the tree. Then a couple of days ago, all the leaves turned brown and shriveled up along with the flowers. It looks completely dead when two days ago, it looked fine. What happened?!?

grandpasrose · Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:01 pm

Rose of Sharon is a variety of the hibiscus family. They prefer lots of heat, and will even survive some drought.
It sounds to me that something drastic has occurred to your bush - have you used a weed killer near it or fertilized recently?
How much have you been watering it - it may have been over watered.
One way to tell if it is truly dead is to score the bark (very small mark) near the bottom of the trunk at the soil level. If you see any green on the inside of the bark, it is still live.
Don't panic, and give up hope - it sounds shocked in some way. If you can give more info about what was happening before it started to drop flowers and leaves it would help identify the problem!

VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

kellid123 · Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:30 pm

I haven't sprayed weed killer or fertilized in several months (maybe 3-6 months or so). We do have our yard sprayed for ticks/ants (last week as a matter of fact)etc....however, we contacted the company that sprays and they said their products are extremely plant friendly and would not have killed anything. The tree was leaning to the right, so this last weekend, we also staked it up VERY LOOSELY-just enough to straighten it, but I don't know how that could have or would have effected it. We also recently mulched the tree, and quite honestly had not been watering it too much, but it had been thriving. I'll try scoring the bark and seeing what's underneath, but I'm afraid of being disappointed and not knowing why the tree went kaput!

grandpasrose · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:11 pm

What did you stake it with?

kellid123 · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:35 pm

The tree is planted in a small edged square. I bought some think bamboo stakes, put one in each corner of the square and loosely circled the trunk with gardening wire (normally for training long stems) and then secured it to the bamboo. I also have to say-which I forgot to mention-is that we have our yard work done by a company that mows, weed-eats and edges once a week. We had a real problem with them getting too close to the poor trunk of this tree and cutting into it with the weed-eater. Though weakened, the tree did not show any signs of this being a negative effect and we bought a plastic protective sleeve designed to protect a trunk from weed-eating to put around the bottom of the tree. I don't know if it just took some extra time for the effects of the trunk tearing to eventually effect the tree itself, or what else it could be. ALSO-I did score the trunk a little this evening and saw a small bit of light green. I have lots of hope for saving this little fighter of a tree, but I need some serious help!

grandpasrose · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:39 pm

How long ago did the weed eating damage occur, and how much bark did it hurt?
When you staked it, did you pull it over to one side or another much?
Also, did you put your stakes through any of the roots?
VAL

kellid123 · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:44 pm

That last weed-eating injury occurred approx. 2-3 weeks ago. I did pull the tree into an upright position as it was leaning to the right quite a ways. I assumed that the momentum from the weed-eater had knocked it sideways. Could I have been mistaken and did something to harm it?

grandpasrose · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:51 pm

You may have disturbed or broken some roots when straightening it.
Also, if the bark has been broken by the weedeater all the way around the trunk, then the nutrients are not getting to the rest of the tree.
All you can do at this point I think is give it tender loving care, cover the wounds, and give it time. Often when these things occur, a couple of weeks later, new growth begins to show. Patience is very important.
Let us know how it goes!

VAL(Grandpa's Rose)

kellid123 · Sat Jul 30, 2005 12:03 am

When you mention covering the wounds-does that mean I should buy some of the wrapping tape that you can put around the trunks of trees to protect them? Or were you speaking figuratively? I just want to make sure to do everything possible for this tree-and as you can tell, I'm desperate to save it! And I do appreciate the insight so far!

grandpasrose · Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:54 am

Wrap the trunk with gauze or burlap, and then seal it in plastic. Make sure that the bark inside is damp. Leave this for a few weeks, and it should help your wounds heal. If the bark has been removed all the way around the trunk though, it is not likely to survive. You should also put a tree wrap guard around your tree to prevent further damage.
Hang in there!

VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:14 pm

Weed eater blight as I like to call it seems the likely culprit. Val's good advice is all I have to offer as well; good luck...

HG

kellid123 · Sat Aug 06, 2005 10:26 pm

I appreciate everyone's advice. I guess it is a waiting game now, so I'll keep you updated as to how it goes. Thank you all!

grandpasrose · Sun Aug 07, 2005 9:42 pm

Not a problem!!

Hope you have good luck, let us know how it turns out.......

VAL (Grandpa's Rose)