European Hornbeam buds are dying

Maros

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By looking at the foliage it doesn't seem to be damaged. It could be combination of the problems. Repot last year, mud like soil in the centre of the rootball (hard to water if dried). Trees in this acadama residues mud struggle. Overwintering in garage sounds safe but question is how you manged to water it during winter.
Now, I can't imagine summer climate where temperature is usually around +30C how hornbeam can do well with one watering a day.
Another point is, year after repotting hornbeams could stagnate sometimes.
With proper watering hornbeams can sustain a lot of sun without shading and not damaged foliage.
 

JudyB

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With proper watering hornbeams can sustain a lot of sun without shading and not damaged foliage.
I find this to be true as well.
For this tree, you should do a topping of chopped sphagnum moss to help retain moisture and keep the roots cooler so as to help this tree thru the season. I would look at morning only sun for now.
 

TerryBryan

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Hi Judy,
Until a few days ago, I had a nice moss layer growing on the tree to help retain moisture. I removed it to see what was going on with the soil. This photo was taken almost 24 hours after watering the day before. The soil is still very wet and if I push down on the darker root ball portion, it's very spongy and wet. The tree is not pulling in very much water right now and if it were, the main root ball would be drying out fairly quickly. Also, this has been happening since it's initial push from winter dormancy since the spring. My other Hornbeams were in full push by the time this barely started to get going. Would it be a good idea to remove any of the ramification where their are no leaves and only buds not doing anything? Also, the tree has been under shade cloth at 40% for the past 5 weeks or so, so I don't think it's over heating. I'm still leaning towards some type of root damage from re-pot or from winter storage. How do I deal with that and what can I do to give this tree the best shot at survival?

Thank you everyone for all of your help!
 

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petegreg

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Hi Terry, I wouldn't remove anything for now if it's not a fungal issue. There are some good looking buds 2-4 nodes down from terminal buds. They can sprout and take over and then I would remove drying parts.

Is there any possibility to water only "outer perimeter" of the soil filled with a better draining soil? And then continue doing that and water the core of rootball less often?
 

JudyB

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I agree with @petegreg I would not remove anything not obviously dead at this point. The tree will shed what it needs to and probably recover if it was indeed winter damage. I keep mine well protected in winter, so have not had any experience with what occurs with winter damage. I hope you will be able to get this tree healthy enough to do a full repot, that soil doesn't look too wonderful. Some looks very coarse and large, but with a lot of smaller particles and muck as well. A recipe for poor drainage.
 

TerryBryan

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Thanks,
All my trees will be in a green house this winter with a heater to help maintain the proper temperature. It's definitely having drainage issues. Since I removed the moss, I can now see that it's not draining well at all when I watered last night. I propped it up on each side for a few minutes to drain all of the excess water from the pot. I will try and water the perimeter more often and keep a check on the root ball. It is raining here now so the tree is most likely wet again.
 
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