I’m devastated some of these straight and narrow Lilly Pillies have suddenly started shedding leaves and turning black. I think it may be due to the slow release fertiliser I added at the start of spring, but it could also be because they’re getting more sun now; but please let me know if you think there might be a different cause!
My main question is whether they can be saved – I’d love to try recover them if I can!! This is their first spring and I’m a plant novice; they were planted in autumn and aside from a touch of browning from probable overwatering, they’ve been fine until now.
by whatissleephaha
5 Comments
Doubt the fertiliser did that unless you wayyyyy over did it. To me it looks like they suffered some moisture stress at some point, they’re very hardy so you could just cut them back a bit and then wait. They can definitely recover.
They’re like aliens. Unkillable.
Likely to much watering so hold back and tip prune to thicken. If you did use to much fertilizer then this too can cause problems.
Your planter boxes I assume have no base so roots can grow down and into the soil and below? If they have a base then look at drainage hole sizes as soggy roots can become diseased. Also if there is a base then you will certainly need to keep the watering up as the darker grey paint will absorb more sunlight generating more heat in summer.
There is a huge ‘gum tree’ just over the fence which will keep growing and will in time push the fence toward you; and it will be sucking all the moisture in the ground too. Keep an eye on it for your safety; and I never understand why in suburban area people plant right against a fence with such inappropriate and huge trees that should be away from dwellings.
I cut an entire lilly pilly hedge off at ground level to build a fence. It re-shooted within 12 months and is still thriving today.
I have a row of 5 and the largest is on the downslope due it getting more moisture than the others. The one in the middle bizzarly started giving signs of death with ~40% of the leaves going brown. I tried the usual supplements from Bunnings (Bush Tucker and Seasol), but what seemed to work has heeding to the advice of gardeners where I bought it and removing all the dirt around to create a cavity, then I filled it with compost and relaid the weed mat over the top. This was at the tailend of this year’s Melbourne summer and now they’re totally recovered, green and growing again. 🙏
I’d share a pic of your setup with whoever you bought it from, plus even take in a sample dead leaf to get their take if I were you.
Mine are in the ground and I hope that they won’t flag that there’s not enough room for the roots to spread out.