Midwinter fire leaves turning brown

Hi there,

We planted Cornus Alba Siberica 2-3 months back with compost, and it does not appear to be growing... the leaves have turned brown. I haven't watered it, but assumed there was enough rain recently...? We are based in Hertfordshire.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! AB.

 

Its probably dry, I'd give it a good soaking, its roots will not have established.

 

@A Ban
At a guess I would say lack of water, sunshine, drying winds will not have helped. I would give it a good soaking tonight and see what it looks like tomorrow and then give it a good soak every week without rain.
Presume it went into a good sized hole and you teased the roots out or broke the root ball up a bit.
It's a good idea to soak a plants roots for a while before planting and then backfill the hole with soil from the hole mixed with compost rather than straight compost.
Cornus (dogwoods) like moist well drained soil.
Is there a weed membrane under the chippings?

 

Thank you very much Pete, I have started watering now… and added some of rose/shrub feed granules too… let’s see how things go over next few weeks…

Apologies for the late response! Only joined last week, and I wasn’t aware I’d had a response already!

 

Hi Nigel really appreciate your detailed suggestions and info, thank you! Our gardener planted it with some peat free compost. I’m sure it we didn’t soak the root ball initially though, or mix soil and compost… certainly tips for next time!

Yes there is a weed membrane under the slate-type stones, will that help?

Sorry for the late response… new joiner and didn’t realise I had a reply already!

 

@A Ban, if you go into your profile page I think you will find a box there to tick that will give you E mails when you get replies.

 

Thank you Pete! Have a great Sunday!

 

My thought was that the membrane may stop the water getting into the soil, they are woven and water does go through them, but that's more the gentle rain type than the hose pipe stream, it might be an idea to direct the hose under the membrane so it actually gets down into the soil.

 

Cornus Alba Siberica should grow well in your region, but if it's not doing so great, maybe give it a good drink now and keep an eye on watering. If the leaves have turned brown, it might be a sign of stress. These shrubs like well-drained soil and regular watering, especially during dry spells.