Question
Hello again, unfortunatly we have lived in Phoenix for the past 2 years(when we lived in CA and Chicago, it grew like a weed, go figure, now I realize it may have been the cold), as for making it a bonsai, thats up in the air, my wife went myrtlewood nuts while we were up on the Oregon coast, saw the sapling, fell in love with it, and so far it has been doing well...
so, would you recommed putting it in full sunlight, leaving it outside during our cold season (Nov through March, around 45-70 degrees outside), should we clip off the brown parts of the leaves?


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Followup To
Question -
Hello,
We have a Myrtlewood tree that we bought three years ago as a tiny sapling (only 3?high); for the past three years it has been growing like a weed, and is about 18?high with three strong branches and many leaves. Unfortunately I began to notice that the tips of the leaves were going brown several months ago (either watering to much or not enough)and the brown working its way up the leaves, I varied the watering (kept the soil slightly moist, using the old trick of a little dirt sticking to the finger), cut off the brown sections, and replanted it in a larger pot (nice root structure). It is near a window with indirect sunlight, no bugs, fresh soil, and the other plants near that window are doing fine. However, the leaves are still turning brown厖.any ideas, perhaps fish oil?
Thanks,
Jeff

Answer -
Jeff,

Are you trying to grow this as a bonsai tree or what?  It is not a tropical tree, it is native to the Oregon area and as such it doesn't like the warm temperatures that it gets indoors year around. It also needs more sun thanyou are giving it.  

Hre is an article I found on the web about Myrtle trees:


Perhaps no tree in the world has such a controversial history as the myrtle of Oregon. So much has been said about this beautiful tree, both by dendrologists and romantics, that it is hard to distinguish between fact and fiction. This tree is a member of the laurel family and is an evergreen. Dendrologists classify the myrtle of Oregon by placing it in a small family of trees called lauraceae. This family includes the camphor and bay trees of the Old World, eastern sassafras, "loblolly" bay trees of the southern forests, and the California laurel. The dendrologists found, however, that Oregon myrtle is represented by only one genus called Umbellularia Californica.

Myrtlewood is found in Southwestern Oregon and Northern California. It extends from about Florence,Oregon to the north portion of California. It has yellowish-white blossoms, and blooms in February or early March. The nuts are mature about October, and are not considered edible, as they are quite bitter. The tree is so symmetrical it appears as a carefully pruned, cultivated tree. The foliage is very dense so one does not see the branch structure as in other trees. The myrtle tree is as beautiful in its natural form as in the finished product. When seen on a hill or in a pasture it is so symmetrical it would seem to be a carefully pruned, cultivated tree.

Accessible old growth myrtle is getting more scarce. Myrtlewood does reproduce itself, especially in the lower elevations in wet areas. It will re-seed itself from the nut and when cut down will re-sprout from the trunk.

Minerals drawn up from the soil color the wood. The struggle or stress during the growth of the tree causes the figurations. Many grain patterns appear in myrtle: burls, tiger-stripe, fiddleback, quilt, inkline, and flame grain. It is as if nature had combined our abundant rainfall and the acid soil to form a rainbow in the heart of this unique tree. It often forms a design. With a little imagination one can see animals, ocean scenes, mountains, or rivers. If you are lucky enough to find a piece with a pink or orange streak, you may even see a sunset.

Myrtle trees should be felled between November and March when the sap is not flowing. Trees felled between April and October may suffer insect damage within two weeks of the felling if not taken immediately to a sawmill. Many loggers do not realize this, so many logs become insect-infested and unusable to the myrtlewood industry.

Myrtlewood trees grow slowly. It takes 100-150 years to grow a 14-16 inch diameter log, which is the smallest that our sawmill can use. When small, the tree looks and grows like a shrub. Different stocks grow together to form the trunk. When mature, the tree is identifiable by four characteristics: a very short, thick trunk topped by a wide crown of dense, lacey foliage; olive shaped, nut-like fruit; a pungent odor to its shining green leaf; and a very long, tender tap root.

It may be that the Oregon myrtle was here long before this continent was discovered. Or maybe, as some like to believe, it was brought to the Pacific Coast by some of Sir Francis Drake's men. They may have picked up some of the myrtle nuts on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and upon reaching our shore, planted them. Who is to say?

In terms of hardwoods in Oregon, myrtle is the fifth most common after alder, maple, oak, and madrone. Only about 500,000 board feet of myrtle are used annually by commercial myrtlewood shops. Objects so carefully made by skilled craftsmen from wood that was centuries in the growing, become heirlooms to be treasured forever.



Where do you live?  It would be best for the tree if you planted it outside into the ground.  Good luck.

Darlene

Answer
Jeff,

Yes, I would put it out for the winter in a semi shady location but not quite full sun. In Oregon they are shorter slower growing trees and are frequently growing under larger trees where they get some sun but not full sun. I'm not sure what it will do with the heat of summer. At that time you may need to take it indoors to a sunny location by a window but also in an air conditioned room. Yes, I would prune off the brown parts of the leaves. Goodluck!

Darlene