Purple Beech Tree - Not growing any leaves

Hi, I hope you can help me. I spent alot of money on some purple beech trees in April this year and planted them straight away. They have been kept well watered but just are'nt growing and leaves. There are no signs at all.

I dont know what im doing wrong. I know someone who has some green beech trees and there have all got leaves on them now and he planted his a few months before mine.

Ive cut the top of the stem to make sure the tree is still alive and it is a green colour stem so i presume it is.

Can anyone shed any light on this problem for me.
Your help would be most appreciated.

 

My Copper Beech hedge, planted last Autumn, showed considerable variation between First and Last plant into leaf. We still have about 4 plants that are being very reluctant

I agree that April is really late if they were bare rooted plants though ...

 

Yes there are still some brown leaves hanging on and the buds are there. But no new leaves.

I presume then it may be next year before i see some growth.

Thanks for the advice.

 

"the buds are there"

Have they swollen? They do that for a couple of weeks before "breaking", so if they are swollen that's a good sign.

Having said all that I think its getting late ... :(

Were they bare root or in pots when you got them?

 

They were bear rooted when i got them - Will not make that mistake again.

The buds are a bit swollen, so hopefully they should start coming out in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

 

They shouldn't have sold them to you. February is about the limit for bare rooted :(

I just wonder if it would be worth putting some Mycorrhizae on them. You are supposed to add it to the rootball when planting, not water on, but if you could find out if it would still do any good it should help the roots establish more quickly.

If not already done sprinkle some Bonemeal around the plants - that will help root establishment too. I think any high-Phosphate (not high-Potash !!) fertilizer would do the same job, but my preference is for Bonemeal as being slow-release.

I also wonder if putting really large clear plastic bags over the tops, supported on, say, 4 tall canes (to keep them away from the touching the plant too much) would help. It would keep the wind off the developing buds, and will stop the leaves drying out too much once they form. Need to make some holes in the top to let the hot air out though!

 

I ordred them and paid for them end of feb, it took them ages to send them and in the end they turned up with a free gift for me for waiting so long. It was the beginning of april when they arrived and was planted straight away as per the directions.

I have some bonemeal, i will put that round and see how we get on.

Thanks again.