Bigger nothofagus antarctica

[leatherback]

RIP

It never woke up. I excavated and saw it did reroot in the pot. I guess the second wave of frost in mid-spring killed it.

 

[0soyoung]

Just to add to the story of disappointing deaths with this species, I had a pair of nothofagus antarctica 'Puget Pillar' that were each growing quite nicely until about August last year when they behaved like it was fall - leaves yellowed and dropped seemingly just like it was Nov when leaf drop normally happened.

Both were clearly dead this spring (would have been their 4th with me). The only thing I can identify to have been unusual last year (as opposed to the previous two) was that both sat in close proximity to a photinia that perpetually suffers from (presumed) Diplocarpon leaf spot. The nothofagus leaves did first turn yellow, then brown, in the centers or nearest to the petioles, but otherwise didn't exhibit any obvious 'spotting' patterns. In retrospect, it is a pity that I didn't keep the two separated in different areas of my garden.

Meanwhile I do still have a specimen of a smaller, prostrate variety of nothofagus antarctica that continues to do well (5th year now, IIRC).

 

[andrewiles]

I found a small one last year. After we had our massive no-good 109F heatwave in June a lower branch looked a bit yellow, and come Fall it was clear it had died. The tree itself is fine and leafing out now.

These guys are supposed to grow well in the PNW and similar maritime climates. And apparenlty there are large specimens around. So maybe it's a root temp issue when they're potted up. I'm going to treat this like a clematis and shade the roots this year.

@0soyoung do you know of any Washington nurseries that sell these?

 

[0soyoung]

Forest Farm in OR whose seed source is the WA Arboretum.
Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend has had some other varieties, but nothofagus is not currently on their plant list

 

[LAS]

I purchased the Pegot Pillar also. Do they really grow columnar as they say? Or are they more open? I’m thinking about how to go about pruning them. I don’t want a super columnar look. A little more open would be nice

 

[LAS]

Just to add to the story of disappointing deaths with this species, I had a pair of nothofagus antarctica 'Puget Pillar' that were each growing quite nicely until about August last year when they behaved like it was fall - leaves yellowed and dropped seemingly just like it was Nov when leaf drop normally happened.

Both were clearly dead this spring (would have been their 4th with me). The only thing I can identify to have been unusual last year (as opposed to the previous two) was that both sat in close proximity to a photinia that perpetually suffers from (presumed) Diplocarpon leaf spot. The nothofagus leaves did first turn yellow, then brown, in the centers or nearest to the petioles, but otherwise didn't exhibit any obvious 'spotting' patterns. In retrospect, it is a pity that I didn't keep the two separated in different areas of my garden.

Meanwhile I do still have a specimen of a smaller, prostrate variety of nothofagus antarctica that continues to do well (5th year now, IIRC).

I saw more than a few people report that if you don’t grow them in acidic PH soil, you get these unexplained deaths. What soil were you using?

 

[0soyoung]

I saw more than a few people report that if you don’t grow them in acidic PH soil, you get these unexplained deaths. What soil were you using?

Turface MVP with Osmocote-plus fert.

 

[LAS]

So.. last night I was.. Let's see whether I have a pot to slip this into. Just slip it in. So I brought it into the workshop...

View attachment 329232

Looks amazing already