Eucalyptus Ficifolia

Question from Desiree:

Hi Pat. I am back again. I had a Eucalyptus Ficifolia. It did well for 2 years. The leaves then started yellowing, almost rusty, then dried up and finally the tree died. I am not sure what happened. I know that the area where we planted gets plenty of water, decent drainage (comes in with a timer daily), and it is surrounded by grass. Any ideas about what may have happened and what to do next time?

Answer from Pat:

Most likely your lawn, plus the drought and dry spring heat we had this year killed your Eucalyptus ficifolia before it got going. I saw a row of young trees planted into bright green grass in a commercial area near my home die for the same reason. You thought that spot got plenty of moisture but this was just on the surface, not under the grass. This is a very common problem. People do not realize how active the roots of grass are. The thick mat of surface roots of grass lawn will very often starve the roots of young trees since the roots of lawn grass will grab every bit of nitrogen and water the tree needs to get going. Though the soil may look moist on top, the earth below under the lawn might be dry as a bone. Hence, when planting a tree into a lawn, first remove all lawn grass from a circle where you are planting, roughly 6 feet wide. Once the tree is well established it’s okay to allow the lawn to creep closer to the tree. However, most likely as the tree grows large its roots will take over the top area of the soil and grass won’t be able to grow there any more due to surface roots and shade. This is what you want. Right after planting and building your water basin, cover the bare area from which you have removed the lawn with mulch.

Before planting your young tree you need to loosen roots of tree after you take it from the can, and then plant it into the native soil. After digging the hole, check the drainage. (See page 40 in my organic book on how to check the drainage in the hole prior to planting.) Do not add soil amendment to the hole. This is important. If you have clay soil that does not drain well due to alkalinity, put about one-half coffee can of gypsum into the bottom of the planting hole and dig it in before planting. Check the level of the soil in the can and the level of the tree when you put it into the hole. Make sure top of the soil in the can is level with top of the surrounding ground. Additionally, place slow-release fertilizer in the bottom of the hole before filling the hole with soil. Then water the tree to get it started as follows: Always soak the hole with water prior to planting by filling it with water a couple of times before planting and letting it drain out. (This prevents wicking of moisture in the hole into the dry soil away from planting hole.) After planting and filling the hole and pushing the soil down firmly with your hands (not feet!) surrounding the tree, then build a water basin surrounding the planting hole and water the hole deeply by laying the hose onto the ground and letting water flow slowing into hole until planting hole and roots are thoroughly wet. The next day water again the same way with the hose and again the following day. After that, soak the hole deeply 3 times a week with the hose for the first week and twice a week for two more weeks, then water with the hose once a week for the next month. After that it’s okay to allow a sprinkler system to take over, but in hot spells such as we’ve had this spring you might need to soak the roots deeply again.