Desert Museum Palo verde Dying

9 years ago

I live in La Mesa, Ca. It is inland a little and pretty hot. My soil is fast-draining sandy loam. I have a Palo verde x 'Desert Museum' in the ground for 3 years. It is in mostly full sun and has grown a lot. The caliper is 3". It has never been without leaves until now. It bloomed for a long time this spring and summer and about a month ago I noticed it had dropped all its leaves. Someone suggested I water it deeply and slowly as it has deep roots, so I did. Now, not only are the leaves gone, but some of the small branches are browning as well. I don't want to lose this tree. I thought maybe it had gophers eating the roots, but the tree seems really stable. What is wrong?

Featured Answer

lgteacher

9 years ago

This tree can lose its leaves during drought without harm to the tree. Don't overwater or you can cause root rot. Watering deeply once a month in the summer. If the soil is moist and the branches are still browning, stop watering. Be sure the mulch is not too close to the trunk.

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Comments (10)

chezron
Original Author
9 years ago
OOPs on the watering. i will stop. Thanks Lgteacher! i hope I haven't killed it. I love this tree!
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bahia
9 years ago
You haven't noticed any fresh growth since the deep watering? In well drained soil with hot summers, once a month deep watering shouldn't hurt it. If the soil isn't well draining and stays too wet, that could be a problem, but even more so in cooler weather of winter.
Laurel Zito
9 years ago
dig a bit around it and see how wet the soil is before watering again.
User
9 years ago
I just lost the very same tree. I live in Arizona and ours didn't bloom this year so we checked it out. Same issues as yours, we lost all the leaves and the ends of branches were turning brown. Then we noticed that the usually green trunks were turning gray. It was a boring type bug. It is coming down now off it's own, because it looks to be dead. We did ask around to experts, there is no help for it. So sorry. I was so sad to lose my tree, it's so pretty in spring with all the flowers. Ours was well over 12 years old. I wish I could give you some advice to save it, but we were told there is nothing to help.
socks
9 years ago
I wonder if it could be the shot hole borer (hope not). LA Times had a good article but I cannot link it. Check it out.
socks
9 years ago
Oops

This post was edited by socks12345 on Tue, Aug 26, 14 at 18:55
chezron
Original Author
9 years ago
Borers are a possibility. I looked at the tree today and the main trunk and all the main branches (except one small one) are still green. I would imagine with borers the vascular system would get clogged and the whole tree would be brown. What do you think? It is just weird because it lost all of its leaves so fast. I really don't think my watering was any different. The other plants around the tree are fine: succulents, Hibiscus, Calliandra.
chezron
Original Author
9 years ago
I think I watered incorrectly and I have root rot of some kind. Do you know the symptoms of root rot?
spoplawski
2 years ago
Looks like I have the same thing happening to my museum palo verde tree. It bloomed beautifully this Spring. Then two weeks later I noticed that all the flowers had dropped off. When I checked the branches, the ends were yellowing and browning. I was told I over watered it and I'm really mad at myself for that stupid move! Now my tree is only about 5 feet round and pruning off the dead branches. I'm hoping that the gorgeous green trunk won't turn yellow as well. If it does, there goes $500 down the drain and the loss of an awesome tree.