Is my tree dead?

Thank you Dim , I suppose that it will work with palms really well but I was more thinking about Harry with the cordyline , I`m try myself to think about a cheap mix for a well drain soil , has I will need a lot soon for my dry garden spot as well.

 

I have to agree Harry that your Cordyline looks dead, this is one of mine after the summer, making a comeback.
Its on clay soil.


However I doubt you have a drainage problem, as it would never have got that large in the first place if you had.

In my opinion Cordylines dont actually like dry conditions anyway, afterall they come from New Zealand, not exactly the driest part of the planet.
Having said that, boggy conditions would not be good either.

If you do go for a Trachycarpus fortunei, its unlikely you will need to do much to the soil, they also dont like drought, and prefer a good soil moisture all year.
Growth would be very much slower than a Cordyline, especially in the first few years, but worth it in the long run, as its more likely to survive anything our climate might throw at it.

Large plants tend to establish slower than smaller ones, as a general rule.

 

Just get some ballast from the builders merchant Sal.

I'm growing agaves in it, and it works.

 

Ballast sound like a chip idea .
Pete Your picture prove what I said , an healthy plant sould have been your size already , Cordyline are able to take lots or rain, what it looked strange is the moss around the plant , the tree in the picture it seam to be in a sunny position it sould not have any moss growing around or the other explanation is that Harry has been keep cutting all the new shooting along with the grass.

 

Sorry I've missed a bit here.:o
Looking back I see Harry does have a couple of small shoots coming from the base of the plant.
So all is not lost then.

Does Harry have a strimmer?????

Cant see any moss, other than in the lawn.

That's likely to be just a surface problem, compaction or some such, and not a general problem with drainage.

 

Yes the moss in the lamn , I think that with years the soil has just lost all the drainage , It maybe was just clay pressed down to accomotate the lawn...what I`m saying to Harry is just to dig a much bigger hole and to mix it with compost and a bit of sand , for a better root system .
If that plant had an healthy root system , the shoots should have look like your plant ....in case of an heavy frost with combination of wet soil , the shoots will die back again .

 

I'm thinking with heavy frost that killed two of my plants, if we get it like that again the new growth will be killed how ever strong.

Strangely, two of mine are undamaged, they are younger plants.

I'm just wondering if the wipe out of cordys over the last year is totally to do with the cold, and wonder if some other effect is taking place.

 

Time ago I`ve seem a BBC gardening program just about that , it has been a combination of could and fungal infection , red/brown infection that attack the bark of the tree . I`ve been looking on google but never find it ....and didn`t even managed to watch all the program as well .
that`s why they where advising to cut the infected part of the tree.

 

sorry for the late replys guys, thank your replys and information, pete how old is yours in the last picture you posted? ive just been so busy with work and fixing up the house, i have not had time to come on here. Ok what do i do with the old tree? do i get a professional to take it down, or can i take it down my self.:(

ps: the moss you guys are talking about, i dont know if it is actually moss its all around my front and back garden with the grass, its like a 2 town grass, which is very soft when you walk on it, i cant remeber the exact name for it.

 

anybody?

 

just clean the top , but don`t cut it down , apparently many cordyline have new shooting even from the top (if you lucky).
ps Harry you`ve have missed the January sale , bought myself a 5 feet cordyline for £15 .
look at the picture do the same and hope for luck.

 

damn cant belive i missed out, i dont think mine will grow like this, the bark has started falling off, i will take some pics tomrow and show you what i mean, it looks completly dead.

 

Hi Sal, first ones I've seen re-growing like that, allthe ones that are re-growing round here are from the base. Encouringly some have grown 'new' plants from the roots up to 4ft in the space of 12 months...

Harry I think if the bark is falling off yours then the main trunk is most likely dead, I would cut it down but keep an eye out for re-growth from the base, there were definitely 2 young shoots in your earlier pictures; are they still there?.

If they are I would clear the grass away from the base add a little feed and keep your fingers crossed and they may well get away quite quickly once the warmer weather comes

 

Yes the 2 little shoots are still there, but are not getting enough sun because one side is the fence and on the other side of the shoot is the trunk so they haven't really grown. I will post pic up later.

 

Harry just cut the tree up where the bark is still alive , even if i would say to wait for some better weather , then cover the cutting , even with a pot , clean all the grass around and start to feed the plant.....it`s pretty normal that the shoots are still small , its winter and plants will start to grown when the temperature reach 14c , last time I`ve forgot to tell you to protect the new shooting from frost , because they are small , it easy that the frost will kill them.

ps . I think that the plants in picture have been pruned at the right time so that the bark didn`t rotten and the shoot have comed from the top as well......3 out of 3 is not luck is more of an expert gardener that didn`t wait for the plant to reshoot from the top but just cut the heads off , same as they do with yuccas elephantis.