Heart breaking!

Hi all

Happy new year!

Last year I moved into a new house. Landscaping has been hard work but lots of fun, but now the plants have settled its been live or die! I had purchased a large grass tree (double) from WA. It was the son I never had. All my life I have wanted one of these black boy trees and now with my own place, I could get one. I heard a lot about these trees and thought I had done my home work well. 'they said' it could take years to die. Well I managed to kill mine in about 1 month! It was growing so well up until the start of November, then all of the tips of the leaves started to die, in the end the whole head was dead and I was going to cut it all off, when it just fell out of the tree in my hand. Its really upsetting for me as this tree was probably a few hundred years old and I managed to kill it in a month. Sadly, I am unable to dig it up to move it now as it is so big!

I also love those flax plants - the colours like Jester - sadly I have had no luck with them either. Maybe the beauties from NZ dont like the aussie sun. I have found the leaves seem to get scourched in the sun. They too also just die. I have tried planting them and giving them just a little water, also tried giving them a good watering but they all end up dead!

Tess, sorry about your grass tree. I must say, however, that the pic you posted is absolutely lovely. Such great strategic planting. Lee

With grass trees they have some sort of special fungus or something (around the roots)that they need to enable them to survive ...I suggest if you love a grass tree then next time just plant the pot leaving about 2/3rds above the ground. Purchase one with the certificate. I am sorry for your loss ...
http://asgap.org.au/APOL33/mar04-5.html
chrissy

thanks chrissy!

it came with a certificate and was in a huge bag/pot. when planting it had very minimal root disturbance. I do agree with you totally in leaving it the 2/3rd above the ground. This should have been done as I think the roots did become water logged.
Killed with kindness I think!

I didn't mean to imply it didn't ...it's just that they would ensure enough soil would have that stuff (sorry I can't remember the name of it) still present in the soil.
My husband bought home a "dead" grasstree from the tip it still had the certificate on the side of the pot so I thought what the heck ...and plonked it one third into the earth (the pot) and gave it some seasol (I use that on everything) ...behold it began to grow the little green grassy tufts again. Believe it or not it is almost in full shade and cops quite a bit of water. Perhaps yours is still alive ...good luck with it ...or better luck next time.

Forgot to say that was about 10 years ago and it's still going strong.

I posted this in another thread only last weekend,I love BB and am so sorry for your loss,they are such majestic plants.We have them growing wild in our backyard which is the National Parks and are growing all over here on Magnetic Island....I so love walking around looking at them....

you have given me hope Chrissy!

I do need to get it up out of the ground - as the soil is full of clay and the drainage is poor. Trouble is the size of it. It would weigh over half a ton!

when you found your grass tree did it have any top at all on it??
there is a big hole in the top of one of the heads where it all came out when i went to trim it. the other head still have leaves but they would also just fall out if you pulled them

I would be over the moon if Archie came back to life!!!

I think I will contact a landscaper (strong man) and see if they can help me get him out of the ground.2/3. as you can see from the pic below he was planted in a hole and is a big boy!

Hi MyaC

you are very lucky to have them in your backyard.

they are great plants I have a huge facination with them too!

I'm sorry to read about Archie's (Archies????!!!) presumed demise. BUT!!! don't be too sure of that. I know nothing about BBs, but I know that I thought I had lost some of my tree ferns in our drought, two of them had had no fronds for two years, and I couldn't feel any of the tell tale "bumps" inside to tell me new fronds are in there somewhere, well, now that I can give them loads of water from their very own water tanks, one of them is sprouting two new fronds, and the other has "bumps".
If you get a landscaper to lift and reposition your BB, why not see if he can also get you some of the special soil with needed bugs in it, to put around it as well before it is replanted.
Good luck!!
Margaret

No I thought it was dead ...but did not have the heart to throw it away. I remembered that some people burn them to rejuvenate them so I thought perhaps it's ok ...and it was.
I think if you have any green at all there is hope ...I would not move it if were mine ...rather dig a runoff so the water can get away ... you know elevate it without taking it out of the ground (just remove a little surface earth at a time until you come to the roots ...cover the root surface with washed river sand a couple of inches).You can cover or disguise the changes with rocks or something ...give it a Seasol drink and sing it a song ^_^ ...it's worth a try.

HI everyone

Weednall! - I name all my plants! They are like children to me. I do not have any children so plants are IT!

Archiee is the blackboy.

Rhyanna - is the umbrella tree.

Joseph - Yucca

Chrissy - did you burn your BB?
last week as the last resort I tired to burn it... at first the whole thing went up in flames then after a few minutes it went out. If i do move it it will just up out of the ground. Get it out of its well and draning better.

all you guys are great!!

nobody at my house understand the attachment you develop with plants.


I know we can save Archiee!

Tessshlingg, Chrissy is right about the BB. They can rise from the dead. I have lived around them for years and seen them recover after bushfires, They were everywhere where I lived in WA and around here along the road to SA, there are millions, I always wanted one but have never had the right soil . They do love poor sandy soils. Be careful if you burn it as they go up like a bucket of kerosene. We used to gather all the fallen dead bits to use as fire starters, a handful of the trunk pieces is as good as any firelighter. They are interesting plants in how they form. The trunks are a mass of rings of small flat pieces seemingly glued together with a shiny very flammable lacquer.
There are various types and a large patch will have so many different shapes.
They can be grown from seed but I don't have 2 lifetimes to wait as they are very slow growing plants.
good luck with your Archie.
Don't worry, I name some plants too and I talk to them all the time.
Jean.

Popped back to say no I didn't burn it just cut off all the dead grass stuff.

Me again Tessshlingg, I only have one plant that I have named, I bought a seedling tree on Ebay, - a Chorisia Speciosa, and the owner of the original tree had named him Spike. So naturally my tree is named Son of Spike. It may be a girl, but I thought son of...... had a better ring to it.
If you google for a picture of it, you will see just why he has that name......in fact I will see if I can find one for you....well the trunk anyway.....
Margaret

Tess, it's so distressing when something like this happens. I've also heard that the grass trees can appear to be dead, only to sprout new growth some considerable time down the track. I don't know if any suggestions in the following link may be helpful. I hope that your grass tree recovers.

http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/oznative/msg031550547290.html

Thanks MargaretK
I hope this hot weather has dried out the ground a bit. I am hoping it will come back. I am going to do some digging and put in a trench for better drainage, when the weather cools down. Many of my plants now are all burnt by this scorching week of temps over 42C. Everything is looking very sad indeed. My hedge of pittosporum is now burnt to a crisp! Even the Agaves are toasted. Not too good when all your plants start look look cactus!

weedsnall - Spike is a great name for your Chorisia Speciosa!

Tess, you poor thing. Adelaide is really copping it.

This has nothing to do with the grass tree, but to prevent burning of tender plants, I absolutely swear by Yates Drought Shield. It's fantastic. I've been spraying it on any new growth just before we expect a heatwave and to date, nothing has been even slightly scorched. I have a Wollemi Pine in-ground and it was really struggling and would get scorched at the first sign of a warm day, let alone a hot one. I sprayed it, including a burst of new growth and not one bit of it has been scorched and it's in full sun and we've have cloudless hot days of up to 43C. I tested it on a couple of clumps of ground cover. I sprayed one and left the other unsprayed and have watered them equally. The one I sprayed is lush and green. The other is burnt and struggling.

Good luck and try to stay cool.

Margaret

Oh MargaretK! I wish I knew this a week and a half ago!

I have lost my whole hedge now. Looks like a bushfire went through! I would need mega litres of that stuff.
Is it too late now to spray them?

I have pretty much given up on all the smaller plants and just trying to save the big ones. Its pretty hard with water restrictions to keep everything alive.

I hope this doesn't happen every year.

I have just gone down to Bunnings and purchased some - now I have to wait until it gets cooler today to apply it. I hope it works, fingers crossed!

This message was edited Feb 1, 2009 10:11 PM

That's dreadful ...sometimes although things look dead they come back at the first rain. hang in there this terrible weather must pass.

I hope it does pass Chrissy100 - forecast for the next week is still in high 30's.
Feb is usually the hottest month. I hope this is not just the start!

Oh Tess, it's horrible when the sun does that sort of damage and yes, the water restrictions are sometimes hard, aren't they? I'm with Chrissy in that things can appear dead when there's some chance they may recover after rain. Persist with their care. With the drought shield, of course it's too late to do anything about the scorching that's already been done and yeh, a one litre spray bottle doesn't cover an entire garden, especially if it's a big one. It's a pity they don't bring it out in a form that you can put into a backpack sprayer. We've got a Manchurian Pear that is impossible to spray with the little spray pack and it suffers in the heat.

I just had a look at my Wollemi a few minutes ago, up there in full sun. No sign of stress. Before I used the drought shield, by midday it would be drooping, even if not burnt. By the way, I have absolutely no connection with Yates. It's just a fantastic product.

February and March are our hottest months too. The old I get, the more I dislike summer.

Margaret - Bunnings did have a large concentrate one you attach to the hose. I haven't had much luck with those types of things. I will test the little spray bottle and see if it will save what leaves are left on the plants. The wind has been very strong and blown all the crispy dead ones off, exposing the ones that where shaded by them.

I dont think anyone in their right mind would actually like this heat - no matter how old they where. ha :)

thanks for that info!

Keep us posted, Tess. Of course, when new growth appears, it will also need to be sprayed. I always do it a couple of days before a heat wave is expected and always in the early evening so it has time to dry overnight. I find I walk around the yard with the spray bottle like someone possessed, looking for anything that looks remotely like it needs protection.

Fingers Crossed Margaret, I have sprayed most of my plants now. The cyclamens where sprayed this afternoon and have already responded! 1 bottle is not enough I will get up early and get some more! At least I know for next time.
My sister said it would be a miracle if the blackboy came back to life. Hopefully it cools down next week and I will give it some seasol.

This winter I am planning on planting more trees for shade. My Flowering Ash tree is the only one that has shown no sign of stress during this hot weather.

Thanks again Margaret!!

Tess, I took a photo of the Wollemi Pine to show the tiny area I obviously missed when I gave the plant, including really soft new growth, a spray with Drought Shield at the beginning of our first hot spell. It continues to show no sign of stress, despite being in full sun.

that is amazing - I have never seen the product here but it's reverse, a frost protection spray apparently works really well too.
Wonder why that was more advertised in NZ than the sun shield?
My roses could have used some of that lately, we are no where near as bad as Aussie but it is dryer than normal here.
Praying no idiots light any fires, our firefighters would like to volunteer to help in Victoria but are not able to go because we are on high alert here.
Take care everyone
Dalfyre

The spay seems to have worked on what leaves I have left on my plants. Thank you very much Margaret.

We have had a break in the hot weather for this week.

Im not too worried anymore as I think of the Victorians who are battling to save their lives and their homes from fires. I count my blessings.

Tess I was think the same thing a few minutes ago.

I'm so glad the spray worked. Keep us posted on the progress of the grass tree.