Are these trees diseased or dying?

KateDIYhome

Hello,
I was hoping to ask for advice for 2 trees/shrubs i am going:

1. The fairly established golden elm i brought has been in the ground almost 2 years, i have clay soil but use gyspm regularly and add compost, but its really not had any growth at all, the leaves are also small and weak, is this tree diseased? can i save it or am i betting off taking it out,? I have a mandarin tree i could replace there. Many of my neighbors have amazing 5-10 meter tall golden elms but i think something is wrong with the growth of mine.

2. The row of silver screens i planted are also dying or not growing, i built these beds to plant something to grow up and shield from the neighbors cigarette smoke drifting over, previously it was a veggie bed and had veggie soil - could that be why they are not growing? any suggestions on how to improve there growth, or is there something else i could grow? would the nasturtium's be suffocating the roots?

Any advice is much appreciated, thank you!

MitchellMc

Hi @KateDIYhome,

When was the last time you fertilised the Golden Elm, and how often do you water it? Here's a helpful guide on How to grow Elm trees. Elms must have well-draining soil, and your clay-based soil could be causing some water-logged roots. Did you remove a large portion of the clay-based soil from the ground and replace it with standard soil before planting the Elm? It's also important to provide room under the rootball to drain any water. The roots will be continuously submerged if the rootball sits directly on the clay.

You could replace the Elm, but I suggest you must address the clay soil to see any plant thrive in that location. You might build the area up with a mound to alleviate some of the issues or consider building a raised garden bed for the new Mandarin. Here's an excellent guide on How to build a simple raised garden bed.

Silver Sheen also is very susceptible to soggy roots. How well does that garden bed drain? Did you line the walls of it with plastic that could retain significant moisture? After watering or rain, how long does the garden bed take to start drying out? Here's a helpful guide on Planting, growing and pruning Pittosporums.

Let me mention a couple of our keen gardeners, @Noelle and @mich1972, to see if they have any thoughts.

Keen to hear more about water retention in those areas and answer any questions you have.

Mitchell