Question
dogwood leaf
I have 2 chinese dogwood trees about 7' tall that I believe were planted here 2 - 3 years ago. One especially didn't look too good last fall when we moved here, however they wintered OK and did well in the spring after which they flowered. The first leaves of this year have turned brown as shown in the photo. This spring I put in 2 Miracle Gro fertilizer spikes at the drip line of each. Since the leaves started turning brown, I assumed lack of water and began soaking with a hose a couple times a week. As they were originally planted in our community by a 'landscaper', I suspect the burlap wrapping was not even opened up at that time. Not sure if this is a problem. Other trees of the same species in the community seem to be OK. The new growth leaves coming now look Ok and are green with no brown showing. Is this a disease, caused by drought, or what? Will it survive? Thanks very much.
AnswerLooks like fertilizer burn. The sticks concentrate the fertilizer and if a roots contacts the stick it may cause the root to absorb too much fertilizer and in turn the leaves will show a burn. I would water with 1 inch of water --place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Do this every third day for a month and that should help flush the fertilizer from the roots. Use a granular fertilizer like 10-10-10 scattered around the tree and this will work better. The burlap can be a problem and can stop the roots from spreading and in turn they can not get enough water to support the foliage and some leaves will die back but usually this is the entire leaf not just the edges. Really can not do much about the burlap now but hope the roots will grow through it.
Will it survive--only time will tell. Next spring the tree should leaf out as normal if the roots were not damaged severely.
