Watering

I have a laurel hedge which was planted in June 2010. The ground in which it is planted is a heavy clay soil type but I have a land drain running along both sides of the hedge and it is also planted up on a mound of soil which I got from digging the land … read more

My hydrangea is in a large pot and the tips of the leaves are turning brown but the rest of the plant seems fine. The rose in the same pot is fine. What is wrong with the hydrangea? thanks for help.

I am wondering if you can tell me what is wrong with my Camellias. Both are kept in containers in a shaded position outside my front door. One of them looks like it is dying, is leaves have turned brown as have the flower buds and the new leave stalks. I’d there any way of … read more

Later this month, (April) I will be planting 4ft high Portuguese laurel hedging (potted) topped off with a permeable membrane and bark mulch to prevent weeds.Question :- As new plants will require watering for a certain period until they get established, will the mulch restrict water access to the plant roots?

The weather has been dry for a while now and it seems likely to continue. Should I water some of my container plants? I am thinking here of the Camelia, Rhododendron, Hydrangea and Wisteria. None of them seem to be dry. I have miniature roses in the greenhouse but they don’t seem to be too … read more

I have a beech hedge which I planted bareroot 3-4 yrs ago and it has never properly established. Each year in spring time the buds/leaves burst and flourish out and it seems like it is doing well, but then by around mid June, it seems to stop growing. Some plants die, some turn yellow, some … read more

I think it may be too late to save, one of my Buxus balls has turned yellow and basically looks dead?? I’ve given it miracle-gro and for some reason it hasn’t come on I would like to know why you think this might be? In the picture you can see a second ball that has … read more

I got 2 Pittosporum evergreen shrubs last year. They are in pots outside the front door and are very much exposed to the elements. I haven’t been watering them as they get a fair bit of rain. One of the plants in particular has started to wither – see pictures attached. Just wondering if you … read more

Purchased this tree, japanese maple – dissectum Garnet, two/three months ago and repotted it some weeks later into a larger deeper pot (see photos) in John Innes 3 and also put gravel in the base for drainage. As you will see from the attached photo, it is situated in a sheltered location which gets plenty … read more

My 5 year old camellia (potted) started budding for the first time this year. However the leaves and buds have turned brown.

I have a Daphne Astrid that I bought 3 years ago (25euro) I have it in a container on my patio which is south facing and sheltered, I also top dressed it last year. It is struggling, I am desperate not to let it die.It is very bare with a few leaves at the top, … read more

this normally beautiful tree is a big disappointment this year. its planted about 5 or 6 years. i dont know if its because of the rain or what but it hasnt leafed up well at all. it seems to have struggled a lot. other acers are doing as well as always. is this one just … read more

Planted Portugese Laurel hedge in November and some plants are dying off – leaves gone brown. They are 3ft tall. Can I do ang thing with this?

My wife has 2 blue Hydrangeas at the front of the house ( north facing) for the last 8 years in large pots. But they have not florished and do not retain the blue colour for her….any suggestions?

I planted a field maple hedge 12 months ago and it’s doing really well around my home . Do i need to water these trees during there 2nd year and are they fully established yet ?

I planted this evergreen clematis last year, it was doing well but I noticed some starting dying off in the last few months. See the attached pictures. It is planted against a screen about 2 metres from an established silver birch. Is there anything I can do to save it?

An otherwise healthy-looking Aralia in the garden now has this leaf curl; is that just because of the dismal summer that we’ve had or something more sinister?

I have a 10m high beech tree. The leaves at the top half of it seem to all have brown blotches and are dying, the bottom half has some but is still in a much better state. 2 years ago a similiar tree about 15m away died. A close by beech hedge is struggling with … read more

4 weeks ago we planted mature (10ft) Portuguese Laurel which were transported from Italy. In the past week a lot of the leaves have turned yellow. They are watered every second day for about 20 mins per tree – are they getting too little or too much?

I have some silver birch that have been doing very well. They are 2-3 years old approx. All of a sudden the leaves on one or two of them are turning yellow and another one is wilting. It is drooping quite badly – about 1/3 of the tree is hanging low. I watered it but … read more

i have a maple small tree which i have in a large pot ane the leaves are all turning brown and it looks like it is dying, but my daughter has one also and it’s the same kind of plant and her tree is the same is it pot bound?

Can you give me some information on young FIELD MAPLE whips . How often should i water them ?, how much Fertiliser should i give them? , when would be the best time of the year to prune them?,what kind of soil should they be grown in ?

I have a Twisted Lavender Tree and a Lilac Tree, they both flowered well and were looking fine until recently. Now however their leaves have gone very yellow and wizened looking and some leaves on the Lavender tree have brown spots. What can I do? Thank you, Ruth

I planted an acer ORANGE DREAM in a large pot early this month. It is showing withering of the young leaves around the edges.. The bigger green leaves are not affected.. I used John Innes No3 compost and added a little shrub fertiliser when planting.. I have watered in the normal manner for newly planted … read more

Im just wondering about my silver birch and acer drummondi trees. they leafed well but now have started to lose some leaves and some have gone brown.

I recently about 5 weeks ago planted a new laurel hedge from pots. I have noticed recently some of the leaves have started to curl up!! Could you please tell me the cause of this? is the laurel dying?

We planted a 5year old Birch tree about 3 weeks ago and it has been battered by the strong winds for past couple of weeks. Leaves are all burnt, some small signs of greenery. How should I care for it?

I got an Azaela evergreen red from my 7 year old son in March this year, I planted it in a lime free compost, now the flowers are going brown and the plant looks like its going to die.

I have a boxwood shrub growing in a pot for approx years. However, it has turned completely yellow in the last few weeks. The leaves are not falling off so I’m hoping there might be some hope for it?!

I planted 300 bare root loral hedge at the end of March, since then the leafs have gone yellow and on some plants most the leafs fell off alot of the plants. I Gave them chicken manure and the new groth is starting on most plants, But should I cut the top off of some … read more

I bought a rhododendron approx 2 months ago. It was doing fine for about a fortnight forming buds. It then went downhill. It now looks like its dying. At start leaves and plant started to go brown plus the buds never opened within the two months. I have watered it thoroughly to no avail. I … read more

I just recently planted a Rhodendron and have noticed it is not doing very well. The leaves are curling inwards plus have noticed some yellow blotches on the underside of the leaf. Could it be iron deficiency related?

I have two small box hedges in terracotta pots that are cone shaped. approx 2ft tall, problem is, one of them is starting to discolour a sort of brown pigment. can you help me to sove the problem please.

I want to install a water butt plus pump to water garden – do you have any recommendations? Back garden is about 20 meters long, planted on 3 sides, 2 mature trees at back wall, have planters on all sides of front garden. Have recently renovated so builder will install from downpipe. Garden drains very … read more

I have a conifer tree that started getting brown patches last year and these are getting larger and larger. What could have caused this? My garden is quite exposed. Also, last summer, I made a change to the area where that tree is planted: the whole bed used to be covered in gravel and I … read more

I have 4 buxus plants in pots my question one plant is slowly deteriorating it has lost most of its leaves the other 3 are good and healthy can i save it?

I have a Eucalyptus Gunnii nad snow gum to plant, is it safe at the moment to plant them with the frost and snow expected? I was going to heavily mulch around them, I just didnt want to leave them in their pots over the winter.

My Skimmia ‘Rubella’ shrub has not flowered so far this year. The leaves are yellowish and pale green. It is in a container outside my door since last November when I bought it. Can you please advise how i can help this plant? Any hope of a flower at this stage? Thanks…

I am hoping you can help me with some information. Attached are two photos of plants i have growing in my back yard. Firstly, could you tell me the name of these plants and secondly, i have noticed recently that they are going very brown, i have been feeding them with shrub feed and watering … read more

I have attached a photo of golden cypresses that i have, this year they seem to be not doing too well and of late i have noticed that some of the lower foliage is actually dead,i know this because it flakes away when i touch it, what is the possible problem and remedy?

The new box hedging which I started planting last year and finished this year is doing quite poorly compared with the one I planted a few years ago. I have been watering it regularly but wondered if there was any specific feed which would help. I got a feed for topiary at an Ideal Homes … read more

I planted Acer palmatum about 3/4 weeks ago. All the leaves have gone dry and brown, have continued watering, should i give up or might it survive?

I have a lonicera japonica in a container and it is climbing well but some of the leaves have spots and there is a blue/grey fungus on one stem. What should I do?

I planted 47 bare root acer trees mid March and they seemed to be doing really well….they all leafed fully but now theres about 3 of them where the leaves seem to be dying. Is there anything i can do? is it just the leafs or the whole tree?

I have a conifer tree (potted) on my patio that seems to be suffering very badly. I have been told that the tree needs lots of water and I have given it plenty but with no results. The tree seems to have gotten progressively worse over the last 6 months. I am moving to a … read more

we have 3 very very large trees bordering one corner of our garden (2 sycamore, and one maple style tree). our problem is we have planted a red robin around it but it keeps dying. we watered it regular etc. we need a hedge there because we need some screening from road. hedge will essentially … read more

We bought a living Christmas Tree in November 2009. It’s been outdoor since and in it’s original pot. It’s now losing it’s green colour and also it’s pines. How best can we care for the tree?? Or is it just now going to die off completely??

I hope you can help me. I have recently planted 120m Holly hedge (IIex aquifolium).The plants came in half litre pots from Coillte Nurseries, Ardattin, Co Carlow and are approx 30-45cm tall.I’ve noticed a substance like a spiders web along the edges of the leaves on my strawberry leaves. I did get some strawberries but … read more

Is it advisable to water plants this time of year during the dry cold period? I have mostly heathers growing.

My 7ft by 5ft rhodendron only has 1 to 2 flowers and then, only every 2 to3 years. A similar one next to it does flower. I have tried miracid, sulfur, special azalea food, spading around it to trim roots everything. It has no diseases that I can see and looks very healthy. Also, the … read more

The leaves on my bay tree are going yellow and are dropping off. What can I do to fix this problem ? I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

I have an azalea in tub flowers very well did so this year but now is all brown and looks dead. Can i do something to save it or throw it out?

My hydrangea which has bloomed every summer and all summer was late flowering this year, but now a few weeks after blooming they have all died, leaves withered and brown and leaves look burned and mottled. What has happened?

I have a six year old potted bay leaf shrub and I have just noticed that most of the leaves (say 90%) are turning brown with a burnt look. Would most appreciate if you could advise me on how to save the plant. I have read that I should cut down to 6 inches from … read more

I planted a bottlebrush plant 4 weeks ago and the flowers are just out and are fantastic, but I’ve noticed that the upper leaves have brown tips/spots, this is probably because I didn’t water enough the first few days, should I pick this leaves off? Will that leave a gap on the stem? Will the … read more

Several hydrangeas, growing in pots, have very pale, almost whitish, leaves, not the healthy green they might be. Some deficiency? Many Thanks Ronnie

My question, i planted about 40 horse chestnut trees (10 years old) in October 2007, they thrived last year and had beautiful flowers early this year but since the hot spell the leaves are browning and appear to be dying. I’m now watering them but there does not seem to be any revival? will I … read more

I bought a wisteria plant from a good garden centre. At purchase the leaves were very dry & havn’t improved since. My plan is to start it off in a large pot until I can move it to surround the front door next year. It’s still green, but should it be so dry & can … read more

I have about 11 silver birch trees planted down my driveway and have noticed that some are losing their leaves already and some leaves are turning brown, is this normal. I planted them earlier in the year and have been watering them regularly during the warm weather.

my standard japanese azalea was a mass of flowers this year but after the blooms went it seems to have died the leaves are brown. Its about 4 year old growing in a container. will it come back or why did it go like that?

I have a fatsia japonica in a pot for about a year. Recently the leaves have begun to brown and die off and growth is stunted and new tips are brown. I thought it was the dry spell as it was in sun, but it hasn’t responded to watering. Could it be vine weevils (there … read more

New to gardening but bought a Pyrus Silver Sail 2 weeks ago & planted according to instructions. The tree was healthy when planted but looks like it’s dying now. Our site is fairly windy as our hedging is still very young & providing no shelter but garden centre told me this tree would do okay … read more

buxus pyramids look dead folage all yellow and falling off, have watered and feed with buxus feed out of Lidl. .. any ideas thanks

I got around to starting on our roof terrace. I used some bamboo, ornamental grasses and buxus. They have all started to go brown over the last couple of weeks and look like they are dying. I am watering them everyday. Am I watering them too much or are these plants not suitable for a … read more

Hi,I live on an average dublin estate with a mature tree beside the drive, what can i out underneath it to liven it up, there’s very little spil because the tree’s roots are quite exposed.I’ve tried Sedum and some heathers and they haven’t worked out. Thx

Dear Gerry, I have moved a very tall tree from one place to another in my garden. i am wondering if there is any thing that i can do or use to help it from not dying? i have packed earth and compost around it.

Hi, I bought two bay trees last July, one of them is now looking very ill. I’ve watered it, put organic chicken manure in the soil, tried tomato feed in it too but nothing seems to have worked. Is there anything I can do to bring it around?

Bay tree is dying leaves going yellow, growth very sparce and there is no new gowth. Bay is about 4 years old. please help.

Leaves seem to have withered/been eaten as they began to shoot. Some beginning to grow again on the lower branches but very slowly. hope you can help.

Hi Gerry,A friend’s laurel hedge is dying. It started about four years ago and seems to have spread throught the(albeit slowly). Is it caused by a fungus or something else. Can it be rescued or must it be taken out and replaced with different plants.Thanks

Some of my yew hedge plants have become bronzed. I was about to replace them but they have shown signs of green in the last month. Should i persist with them? It is a clay soil and they are planted in topsoil but underneath is a hard pan where the builders machinery used 3 yrs … read more

This winter I planted two Liquidamber trees about 20′ apart. It seems that one is fine the other however has only about 20% leaf cover. The only difference in location I can see is that the successful tree is more sheltered. Should I dig up the failing tree or is there a chance it will … read more

10 years old. Name unknown. Bought in garden centre. Flowers appear but go brown and die without opening. South facing. Foliage perfect after flowers gone. ..Thanks for attention…no rush.

My Acer Dissectum about 2 yrs old is looking very poorly.It is in a large pot of erricacious compost. the new growth is drooping;(see my photo section).what could be the problem? Breda Tyrrell

Hi Gerry, I have a 36″ high specimen in a pot, I am developing it for its final position in the garden. It had lovely new growth all over it two weeks ago but now has turned a reddish brown colour and has started to drop needles. I scrapped back a small bit of bark … read more

3 7′ trees planted on slope now in two years the lower one is fine. Higher ones have hardley any leaves and few flowers. Even though it is ex farm land the soil is not great. Would feeding them ensure they do better next year. Last autumn the higher ones changed colour and lost their … read more

Dear Gerry, I’m a novice gardener. Last year my mother gave me two potted small fern trees (box/bux? I think she called them). One is thriving but the other has a lot of brown and hasn’t grown at all. When I realised the pot had no drainage holes a few months ago I remedied that … read more