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Hello, this is my first post and I'm really a garden newbie. Thanks in advance from those more experienced than I......That should include everyone.

Our new landscaping was installed about 2 years ago, and the silver sheen pictured almost doubled in size since it was planted. Now, it doesn't look as healthy and isn't as bushy as before. We like lots of foilage for privacy.

Please have a look at the pictures and let me know if there are any recommendations to help them.

I fertilized them with three shrub spike hammered in at the tree line about 5 months ago.

They are watered two times week.

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Many Thanks,
Tom

Last edited by Tom Perazzo; Jul 15th, 2013 at 02:17 PM.
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Welcome, Tom. Pittosporum, after established, need less water. During the summer 2 times a month very deep watering. Once a month in our wetter seasons. They are subject to root rot if they get too much like you would do for a lawn or even those lovely roses you have in front of them.
I would let yours dry out for a while and also trim them back to a couple of feet above your wall. They will put less energy into trying to recover the dying tops and more into new,fresh growth. Hopefully they will recover and again screen you from your neighbors.
Good luck.


~Tina
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Thanks Tina for your nice reply.

I probed around the surrounding soil and found it very dry. Only some moisture was evident near the water bubbler which is off to the side of each tree.

Some of the brown leaves are crunchy.

While I don't know for sure if its a root rot problem or not, I also suspect that it may be underwatered.

I will trim the tops as you suggested and change the watering as you also suggested.

If the soil is dry near the trunks, do you think it okay to deep water now?

My plan is to water slowly with my hose just trickling so I can water the entire perimeter of the tree instead of just one side.

Good or bad plan?

Thanks,
Tom

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Yes, deep water now. Your plan is very good. Then do it again in a couple of weeks. Have you checked your bubblers to see if they are working? It sounds like you will need to do the trickling hose thing every couple of weeks all summer long.


~Tina
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Thank you Tina for your help! I will post another picture in a month or so, if I remember. grin I deep watered today and the ground soaked up lots of it. Once it leaked through the wall I stopped. Pardon me for the dumb question, but is there a guideline for how much water each tree should get? Like number of gallons or trickle time?

I let it trickle with a diffuser ball on the end of my house for a few hours.
Thanks,
Tom

Last edited by Tom Perazzo; Jul 17th, 2013 at 02:45 PM.
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There is no real guideline. It all depends on soil type and how deeply your water goes. How well it stores in the soil, etc. There are so many variations to those questions. The clue is always the health of the tree. You can dig holes around the dripline areas to check for moisture at a depth of 6-9 inches and check for moisture. So much of gardening is guesswork depending on so many variables.
I live further out into the desert than you. I have some pipes buried vertically near the dripline of some of my trees to fill with water to make sure of some deep water to more sensitive types. It is a good way to add a handful of granular feed on occasions too. My gray water from my washer and bathtubs drain out to some of my trees also.


~Tina
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Many thanks to Tina and others. My silver sheen are growing great again. I was watering too frequently. The deep watering once every two weeks has been working great! Thank you!
Tom

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I am so glad it is working. There is always that niggling fear in the back of my head that worries that I am not giving the right information. I would hate to lose some beloved plant of anyone's. Thank you for letting me know.


~Tina
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Hi Everyone, I'm new to AGF and new to gardening! I planted about (30) 5 gallon Pittosporum Silver Sheen as a privacy hedge in April in Altadena and on the whole they seem to be growing pretty well (they started out at around 3-4ft and most have already grown by at least a 1ft). However, I noticed a week or so ago one plant is starting to loose leaves significantly at the bottom (although all still seem have plenty of new growth at the top and on the sides). I Would appreciate any recommendations for fertilizer and/or mulch I could use to keep them healthy. I read you can use the trimmings from clipping the plants (lay them around the plants on top of the soil around the plants) which I did about three weeks ago and that its also a wise to add some gypsum around the root base to help with irrigation and control Phytophthora mold. I also purchased a few bags of “Kellogg Garden Gardeners Walk on Bark” which I plan to use to cover the soil around the plants and wanted to know if this would be harmful or beneficial to this plant? I water them with a 12" drip line (3) times a week for 10 minutes and then every two or three weeks over the summer I have given them a good soak with the hose which they seem to respond well too (I would say our soil is definitely on the sandy side and dries out quickly). I have already asked my gardner but all he could tell me was "that's just how they are, they all loose leaves at the bottom". As I have a pretty significant investment in these hedges, I cant afford to give up that easily! Any advice would be appreciated greatly. I have read all the posts on this thread (thank you to all who contributed) and will try watering less frequently and deep water every one to two weeks instead. I will also check for possible fungus at the base.

PS: Is there a way to share pictures on this forum?

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Welcome Sooty. I really don't have much advice to add to the above.
Pictures need to be in a photo editing site like photobucket or picturetrail or something. They can be uploaded from there.


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Welcome Sooty.

here is some information on posting a photo:

Your photo will need to be uploaded to a server, most everyone here uses Photobucket. You can alternatively use the Gallery feature here on the forums, the open Gallery forum for members is "Our Member Galleries".

It takes just a couple of minutes to join Photobucket, it's super easy to use, and it's FREE!

Simply upload your photo to Photobucket, then click the thumbnail of the picture you want to post and find the three boxes titled: "Url", "Tag", and "Img".

Just highlight the line (Img) then right-click and copy it, then paste it right into your post here at A Gardeners Forum.

At the top of the thumbnail photos there is an "edit" button, where you can resize your picture.



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