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We had this tree planted by local council in August 2025.
It looked great. Noticed the leaves started to turn brown about 6 weeks ago.
Trying to water every few days, early morning or late at night.
Can I save it?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Em4. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about gum trees.
The tree doesn’t appear to be completely dead, but it is clearly under a lot of stress. The very sandy soil it’s planted into won’t hold moisture or nutrients particularly well, which can make establishment difficult, especially in the first year. The fact that the canopy has browned off quite quickly suggests the root system hasn’t been able to support the amount of top growth it had.
What is encouraging is the fresh new shoots coming from down low near the base. That usually indicates the tree is still alive and is trying to regenerate. In situations like this, it’s often because the roots were damaged during planting or simply hadn’t established enough to sustain the upper growth. As a survival response, the tree effectively sacrifices the top canopy and focuses its energy on rebuilding from the base while the roots recover.
I would keep up your watering, but make sure it’s a deep soak rather than frequent light watering. Giving it a solid drink for around ten minutes every three days is a good approach, as this helps water penetrate down to the root zone instead of just wetting the surface. You’re clearly doing something right, as that new growth wouldn’t be there otherwise. It’s likely the upper section will continue to die back, and over time, the lower shoots will become the new main structure of the tree. If that happens, you can later remove the dead top growth once it’s clear it hasn’t recovered, and then focus on training the new shoots as the tree re-establishes.
You might like to reach out to your local council to see if they can replace the tree, as starting from the lower growth will be a long process of reestablishment.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
