Sorbus ?leaf scorch ?drought ?something else

It would definitely be better in a sheltered location @Liz Bartlett. If you have one, wait until autumn before moving it, after the leaves have fallen. Incorporate lots of organic matter in the area around your tree like farmyard manure, garden compost (not MPC) or soil improver.

 

If the tree is where you want it to be, then leave it where it is. It'll be fine.

It'll just need looking after for two to three years. Continue to water well and regular next year and reduce watering 2026 and only when very dry in 2027. Water well even in winter if we have a prolonged dry spell.

Sorbus (Rowan Trees) are virtually indestructible once settled in and Waxwings can't get enough of the berries in winter.

If your tap water is soft opposed to hard, i'd add a dose of sulphate of iron or ericaceous plant food a couple of times a year in the growing season.

 

Constantly fighting your conditions is never a good idea IMO. If you needed that level of watering, over that length of time, for any tree, then it's in the wrong place, or you simply don't have the right conditions for it to start with, and would be better finding something more suited to the site.

We have soft water here. I've never needed to add anything for a rowan, but they need nothing here anyway as they just grow all by themselves.

 

All trees need a little help for two to three years until they get themselves established where they've been planted. A Sorbus can survive in some seriously difficult conditions, given time to establish themselves. It's not unusual to find a mature sorbus growing well out of a crack in a rock halfway up a mountain, seemingly surviving without any soil at all!

 

Looks like not to be a good Sorbus tree summer. I'm by no means an expert but like reading the entries here, and find it often interesting to see that certain topics come up at the same time.

Sorbus tree

Sorbus/Rowan/Mountain Ash: Is this leaf colour normal?

 

Just to put my bit in,can I say I see a few Sorbus trees around here, mostly in parks.
Once established they seem to grow reasonably well, although probably not as well as in wetter or cooler parts of the country.
But most would have been autumn/winter planted and not watered since.
I think they tend to be shorter lived as well, rarely if ever see big old ones.

It's always harder to establish a big tree rather than a smaller one, especially if planting in spring, that I believe is where careful watering in the early stages comes in.
If it's in reasonable soil I see no reason that it shouldn't establish well enough.

 

Hi,

I am one of the people who posted about their sorbus tree not looking amazing and I got some good advice, which was to increase my watering. It is a pretty large specimen that I planted less than a year ago, so @pete is right about the difficulty when dealing with such a specimen. My neighbours also have a sorbus tree, which is now mature, in the same aspect as mine (and same exposure), just a few meters to the right, and it is doing great.

I think that pretty much everyone has a point - if a location is completely wrong, of course you will be fighting a losing battle. On the other hand, a tree going through a period of stress while establishing probably doesn't necessarily mean that the location can't work in the long term, after the tree has grown a good root system - I think this is what @akwe-xavante meant.

I live in the North East of England by the way, they actually seem to be doing great here when established As a matter of fact, Sorbus Aucuparia is native to some parts of the UK (North/West) and can even be found in the Scottish highlands. (The one I have is a variant of Sorbus Aucuparia, though the specific variant I believe is not considered native).

Edit: here is a quick photo of my sorbus versus the one of my neighbours in the background. The comparison does make me feel a bit guilty - though I was also away for 2 weeks and the person doing the watering I think was giving it very little water, so it's in full Autumn mode.

 

At the risk of repeating myself, this is exactly why your conditions and climate matter.
For trees, and many shrubs, planting in summer is always more difficult, purely because of the fact it's summer, and is generally drier, so naturally you will need to be vigilant about watering so that the root system is properly established, and gets down into the ground well. The prep is key. However, that isn't the case in every part of the UK, hence my statement about a generalisation, and how easy it is to plant and grow things here where I am, and anywhere up the west side of Scotland, and no doubt in many areas of the west, further south.
If you keep trying to make something fit when you don't have the right site and climate, it's a waste of time and resources, and if you're in a drier area, you'll need a huge capacity to collect rainwater when it's available, and most people don't have that facility/space.
You can amend the soil, but again - only up to a certain point. If the ground is decent, and properly prepped, then yes - most things will manage once properly established, but you shouldn't still be watering something three years after planting it. That says it isn't the right plant for the spot. I can faff all I like with my raised beds to help improve drainage for plants that like that, but I can't control what comes out the sky, or the temps, so some plants still won't be happy. The same applies the other way round if you're in an area that gets sustained drought and higher temps. A raised bed can be created to help with that, by lining it and minimising the drainage, and filling appropriately etc, but ultimately - if the climate isn't suited, many plants just won't be happy.
As @pete noted, those trees in parks have been established, and then left to get on with it, but may not reach full potential because of the conditions. Timing is a big part of that, though, and if planted a couple of decades ago, it would have been easier for a good result, but how many trees planted in parks, or anywhere else, in recent years are thriving? It's not as simple now, due to the obvious climate changes all around the country. There's been a lot of comments in recent months/years about dead trees, because councils do the 'appeasing of the green lobby' thing, and bung in trees, but then they're just left to get on with it, with the inevitable result.

S. Aucuparia is the native @CostasK , and grows very easily everywhere up here, and especially in the wetter west. It thrives beside burns and in soggy lower slopes, but also in poorer sites due to that rainfall. All the others varieties are specifically grown and cultivated, and therefore have different colours and habits, just like any other tree. shrub or perennial, but basically require the same conditions to do well.

 

Thanks @fairygirl Great information and perspective as usual.

Yes, I am aware that S. Aucuparia is the native rowan. I just didn't know if that's the case for the specific cultivar that I have, which has apricot berries instead of the usual red / dark orange ones that can be seen in the wild (the website I got it from did say it is still classed as a S. Aucuparia).

A lot of gardening is trial and error. My sorbus has been in the ground for just under a year now (I believe it was late September when I planted it) so I am hopeful that in the future it can thrive like my neighbours' one. I do love it even when it's not doing amazingly & I don't have another spot for it, so I will be patient, water it well and hope for the best.