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| I bought 3 River Birches about 10 days ago. I left for work for the weekend and when I returned, at least 1/2 the leaves have turned yellow or brown or have already fallen. Should I still plant this tree? Will it improve? I would hate to spend the energy digging a hole when the tree is not even handling living in a pot in my yard!
Background: The 3 River Birches were bought from 3 different places, but bought on the same day. It is about 6-7 ft tall, potted. I bought this particular one from Menards (I loved the trunck structure of this particular one), covered it with a tarp in the back of my truck for the ride home, and then placed it in the spot were I wanted it. I watered it everyday except last weekend. My husband missed 1 day watering it, but I had moved it next to the house in a more shaded area before I left for the weekend due to the high wind. It had dieback on the top of one of the trees (it is a 3 clump) when I bought it and I cut that back to just above the next bud. I have not planted it yet due to 90 degree weather without rain. The next few days is supposed to be 60-70 degrees with rain expected, so I thought this week would be good to plant them. The other 2 birches look the same as when I bought them. So, what did I do wrong? Do I still plant it?
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, May 29, 12 at 16:25
| did it need water every day .... or did you just soak it every day ... tell us about the trip home ... under the tarp? ... any long stops [like while you were shopping at the other 2 places???] ??? .. 2 or 300 mph???? .. lol i would suggest you NEVER leave pots in the sun .... especially big ones in 90 degree heat ... now.. w/o a picture.. i dont know what you should do with it.. its obviously stressed.. whether that happened BEFORE you got it.. or since.. i just dont know ... see link ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: the HTML code ... paste it where you type
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| ken is totally correct - river birches in containers need water EVERY DAY, especially with your heat. A miss of one day can cause leaf drop. If the leaves on the INSIDE are falling and those on the tips of the branches are remaining, it is most likely drought stress. Get those puppies in the ground ASAP and soak the heck out of them two or three times a week. They love water, and must have it in the heat. hortster |
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| Oh, shoot...Menards has the worst potted stock ever (root wise). Good luck with the trees. You can't really hurt river birch with too much water as long as its not water logged (although they can tolerate that for a certain period of time I believe). |
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| River birch come with their own natural love of frequent (but not total) inundation. Plant now! Water! hortster |
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| Ok. I will plant it in the next couple of days then, thanks! I was not sure if it would be better off recovering in the pot or in the ground. Sounds like ground. Do I need to find the root flare on this type of tree before planting? One of them is from a greenhouse and I dug down 4 inches so far in the pot and have yet to find the root flare....it is in a huge pot, but has a tag on it that says it is bare root. Odd? |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, May 30, 12 at 7:53
| the trunk is made.. to be in the air ... dry ... the roots in the ground .. made to handle moisture ... i presume you are with me so far.. lol ... putting the trunk in damp ground ... can lead to interference with what the tree is doing below the bark ... in most trees ... ONLY if you find advantageous roots above the flare.. do you let it be ... ken |
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| One of them is from a greenhouse and I dug down 4 inches so far in the pot and have yet to find the root flare Keep digging. Like I said worst potted stock. I was going to get an oak from them and I was digging to find the flare before I pot. I was wrist deep, almost 8" and no flare. So I passed again on another plant from Menards. |
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| Gotcha. Thanks! |
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