Acacia Tree

Our Acacia has been in for 2 years and grown into a monster already. It seemed more than happy in in the freeze, but since then it has lost its green and all the leaves/ needles are going brown and dropping off.

I snipped off the end of a branch at the weekend, and there is no green inside.

Even the trunk has gone dull
Has it died, or does anyone know what has happened??

 

Should be fine, mine behaves identically and is also monstrous :lollol:

After a few years once it had established a thick trunk, I pruned mine to a solid 4 foot trunk from which it threw up new branches. I grew it with this intention as they get very bendy and its preferable in my view to have many smaller branches from a separate sturdy trunk than one bendy trunk with dependent branches.:gnthb:

 

Thanks BM - was worried we'd killed it!!!!

We were planning on giving it a severe "hair cut" in spring anyway as it will take over the garden if it survives this year!! We are staggered at how quickly it grows!!! :o)

 

Sorry but it sounds like its dead to me.

How cold did it get down your way HB?

The recent cold spell is the worst we have had for some time.

Any way,hoping BM is right and I'm wrong.
Just leave it and see what happens, it may well have just lost some growth, which you can prune back to live wood in the spring.

 

Hi Pete

It got Bl**dy cold!!!! Normally a cold winter here you have to scr ape the windscreen 3 or 4 times a year. It was frozen for a good month!!

We got down to -10 one night, but most it was -5ish. We had frost that didn't thaw during the day and stayed around for a few!! Which never happens here!!

And I thought we were suffering from global warming!!!!

The tree kept lovely and green during the cold, just a week or so after it turned brown. Mind you, it would have kept its colour when frozen, like peas, wouldn't it!!

I dread to think what else we have lost - the chilli in the greenhouse for one.

 

Sounds similar to what I had here temperature wise.

I'm assuming is Acacia Dealbata that you have, its probably the most common one here.

I have a couple of other types, melanoxylon and pravissima.

The melanoxylon has got a fair amount of brown on it, but I think the main stem is OK.
Pravissima, which is probably hardier looks OK at the moment, but I'm wondering if the flower buds have been affected.

Time will tell

 

Melanoxylon seems fine growing happily in a large pot. It was 7 foot in the pot but I cut to 1 foot again for the infant leaves. I grows really well and is about 5 foot again.



The Dealbata is as pictured now dropping the needles, but alway does this throwing new shoots and flowering late. (blurred sorry)

 

It doesn't sound too good Honeybee, even mature Dealbatas cannot usaually cope with -10.:( Leave it and see whether any growth comes back.
They have not been affected here as it only went down to -5 on a couple of nights.

My Acacia Baileyana is in flower now taking all the bad weather and not dropping it's buds.

 

I still think a few plants are yet to show the full effects of the cold spell.

My Clianthus is not looking very good, seems to be getting worse day by day now, also a couple of citrus plants that I have managed to grow in a protected spot are showing more and more leaf damage.

I have a totally destroyed Canary Date Palm, that had been in the ground for three years, washingtonias with all dead leaves, and as to tender deciduous plants, who knows till spring?:(

 

Yes, I fear I have lost a few other bits too. My Calla lillies which were doing really well all got frozen and collapsed into a mushy slush... but I have noticed today the passion flower romping away in the cherry tree!!! New growth all winter???!!! and I always thought they were tender "exotics"!!!!

 

Pete, my Clianthus is ok as it still has flowers and even more buds.

Looking around town here there are a lot of Phoenix with browning on the leaves but not completely gone, a couple of large Washys have.
My Butia and Brahia are so far untouched.

Another cold spell on the way and you might get hit worse than us as it's coming from the East.

 

All the really bad cold spells come from the east as far as I'm concerned Strongy.
Its where the really dry cold air comes from, northerlies are more humid and bring wet snow, easterlies at this time of the year give us real powder snow, the type that blows around.
If I remember rightly BR once called it "the wrong kind of snow".:D

Good luck with the clianthus, mines hanging in there, but its damaged.

HB, the calla lillies may well come back OK, especially if its the white flowered ones.

 

Lets hope so - they are some of my favourites and I's be really sad to lose them. Only 2 are white - I also have a green goddess (which struggled this year (its first)for some reason) and a blush rose coloured one too.

Mind you, the weeds seem to be loving the sub-zero temperatures!!!! Typical!!