I recently got this mexican plum to be transplanted into my backyard and I’ve noticed the leaves have slowly been turning brown. The tree kinda look sad when the nursery dropped it off but just kept getting progressively worse.
My assumption was transplant shock or maybe roots got damaged when they were transporting and planting it.
Is there any other way to figure out if the overall tree is still doing okay and if this can be salvaged?
by sanju_srini
5 Comments
Hopefully, the nursery gave you some sort of warranty. That tree is dead.
That’s a goner. It might come back but it won’t be healthy.
Tree planting season is October 1 to march 31. Trees do much better if you plant them between those dates so they can establish before summer hits.
There is visible trunk damage and no visible root flare so it seems planting may not have been kind to it. How much were you watering it?
Did you water it after planting? It prob needed daily waterings, that is not coming back.
Mexican plum is notorious for being extremely willing to transplant. I’ve actually moved mine 3 times (long story). I spoke to the folks at Texas Native nursery and they told me about their harvesting method for this plant bc it responded well to root harvesting. I am looking at your little spaghetti drip line around the trunk, I’m going to guess it was not sufficiently watered in the early days while it was establishing. I don’t know what your schedule is, but that water needs to reach alllll the way down to the bottom of the root ball, not just the top few inches of soil. So if you get it replaced, consider a more robust watering schedule.
Planting in summer is not a good idea. Also, this is generally considered an understory species and does not do well in full sun.