Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 07, 2009 3:55 pm We had some extreme hot weather lately in Melbourne ...well all over except its seems up North where they have had floods,...
Just wondering how every one's plants have gone in the heat have you lost any? Any plants that can be purchased that can withstand extreme heat and burning? My Cordylines have virtually died or limp and burnt .. i now as i said its been very hot like today but i was led to believe that they are drought tolerant . Just thought they would survive better in this weather. Also my landscaper planted pittosporums yesterday which may have been a bad idea? I was looking at them to day looks like the sun starting to get to them. [/i] Re: plants and the heat 2Feb 07, 2009 4:04 pm We had 2 beautiful little gem magnolia trees planted in the back corners of the block, soon after we moved in and their leaves have all but died now. They are a woody plant so will recover, we can see new growth already coming out and we have topped up the amount of mulch we have underneath them and give them a good soak every couple of days. We are considering getting some shade cloth to cover them if need be....
We also have 4 x very large agave's in pots and even they are closing up due to the heat! And i thought agaves were supposed to be virtually indestructible well at least drought tolerant!!!!! But maybe we're beyond a drought now???? If thats possible?? They should all recover (i hope) but still we are not going any where near the garden to plant more tress, grass etc....until the weather and ground cools down somewhat! I feel sorry for one of our neighbours who've just had their garden fully landscaped!!!! Re: plants and the heat 3Feb 07, 2009 5:25 pm Another magnolia trauma centre here. We only had a few pretty hot days, but it was enough to turn most of the leaves brown (they are in full sun all day). They look weak & sick. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: plants and the heat 4Feb 07, 2009 10:10 pm remember folks, lots of seasol, organic material and green mulches like tree prunings mulched up, or sugar cane mulch, peastraw, lupin mulch. Heavy layers of this will help your plants.
Even the toughest of plants will have problems surviving at times. For example not every plant propagated by the growers, who sell to retail nurseries, survives. They have losses too. The agave' is a good example of plants that can be damaged by heat. The leaves exposed to the sun the most can heat up to such a point that the cells inside are cooked and you get that beige yuck patch over much of the leaf. Most of you have fairly new gardens (under a few years old) and your plants will take a long while to settle in and toughen up to the conditions in your yard. The "toughest" and the "hardiest" (I dislike those words) plants have had the resort life style prior to you buying them. As an example even an Eskimo will find Alaska bloody cold if he lived in Hawaii for the last 5 years Don't go fertilising your stressed and damaged plants. stick to lots of water, seasol, heavy green mulches and organic material like sheep, cow, horse, chook, and the best... pig poo Fertilising will do more harm than good right now. Harm to the environment and to the plant itself. Research has shown that once the soil drys around a plant, the fine roots that absorb so much moisture and nutrients die off and or are badly damaged. It takes around 4 weeks at least for these to begin to recover. Good luck, Oh and leave the damaged foliage on there for a few months to help new foliage grow with some protection, a point "themax" has made before and it's a good one. All those Magnolias will recover and you may not think it now but they will be stronger for the experience. Re: plants and the heat 5Feb 07, 2009 10:31 pm My agave's are looking very sick. Pittostrum's have shed about 70% of their leaves. Everything else has 50% of it's leaves dark brown/burnt and dried up.
Will need a lot of rain and some cool temps to bring them back to life. Re: plants and the heat 7Feb 07, 2009 10:46 pm I was very impressed with how good my three Pink Ribbons (Phormium Tenax) had gone, until about 3 days ago! I have been watering them every 2nd or 3rd day, and they seemed to withstand last weeks 3 days in a row over 40, but it seemed that suddenly more than half of the foliage dried out and shrivelled up.
If they live, they live, if not, then oh well. Re: plants and the heat 9Feb 08, 2009 11:00 pm As i mentioned earlier, we have now mulched and watered our little gem magnolias to try and bring them back to life. And today i found one of them has 3 little white flower buds on it!!! YEAH!!!!
The other one though has taken the brunt of the sun with no shade on it (unlike the other one which had some shade from the fence), but we're hoping that one will pick up soon too.... Re: plants and the heat 10Feb 08, 2009 11:06 pm there is nothing like a near death experience to get a plant going.
Most plants that experience high stress will do one of three things. The first is die, that's great because that means it was no good so get something new. Second is it will flower or fruit in a vain attempt to carry the species on. It often comes through fine. Third is that it will shoot new leaves and carry on growing as is the case with shrubs that have dropped leaves (an initial response to reduce the plants water and nutrient needs and preserve its ability to recover). this is always seen after fire, reminding you that life does carry on no matter how bad things seem at the time. Look to nature for inspiration Re: plants and the heat 11Feb 09, 2009 11:48 am We've lost all the leaves off our jasmine and michelia, but both are showing signs of new growth. Our red cordylines have all gone a little brown, but are still growing. Jade plants are fine (aren't they always...?), palms are fine. Cherry has lost all its leaves on one side, but it still growing on the other. Bamboo's loving it, fuschias have gone a bit droopy, strelizia is coping okay, but our cycad has turned yellow. Our fruit salad tree is a bit droopy, crepe myrtle is doing fine, and jacaranda is loving the heat.
Our "sun tolerant" azaleas and camellias (sasanquas) have all but given up, but the ones we planted in the shade under our massive gum tree are fine. The calla and canna lilies are going crazy, but the arum lilies have given up. Roses are looking average, but the passionfruit is going wild, as are the frangipani, the cacti and the snail flower. The recently-planted liriope is looking a little burned but will recover. All in all I think we've been pretty lucky honestly. --Mike Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: plants and the heat 12Feb 09, 2009 10:15 pm We lost our Xanthorrhoea quadrangulata . All the leaves have turned yellow / brown and it looks like its knocking on heavens door.
One of our Orange Jessamine's looks like crap and all of our big kentia's and staghorns that we were worried about surviving direct sun have taken a beating and look like they are going to die. DM took the stags but the kentias are too big to move. Quite a few fatalities I'm afraid. Glad we haven't progressed plans for the espaliers coz no doubt they would be dead as well. The lawn is doing well tho' ... we've done something right there. Re: plants and the heat 13Feb 09, 2009 11:03 pm Our Rhododendron is really struggling - a lot of black burnt leaves (we got desperate in the week of 40s and actually pulled out the beach umberella to give it some shade!! ), we got the Seasol and hopefully it will pick up - will be a shame if it goes as in November it flowered brilliantly and it was only planted at the start of last year! A little worried that the Melbourne climate wont be very kind to it but we had to give it a go! Anyone got any ideas to help it along?
Our cordylines are discoloured, but I think will pull through. Our Daphne's leaves have shrivelled a little bit but already looks much healthier. Its such a shame, I feel for those who have to plant their gardens within 3 months of occupancy in the middle of summer!!! ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: plants and the heat 14Feb 09, 2009 11:25 pm Ick we have to establish our gardens within six months of moving in.. but personally if the six months where up in summer i would only do the main landscaping and leave the planting till later when its cooler. Actually i was thinking about using the umbrella. A quick cover if you want to keep a plant alive .
I was doing a bit of weeding to day and took a closer look at some of the plants i thought where dead they actually arnt . i can still see traces of green which is hopefully a good sign. Then theres the others that have done fantastic . The others that don't look like there is any sign of life i will wait to see whether they come back to life before i pull them out. There may be answers here but can't find anything. I have a closed in veranda, four windows. North facing, just had sunblock blinds installed. A bit cooler (actually… 0 1786 Murraya could be a great option for you. It creates a great tall screening hedge but doesn't drop fruit like lily pilly. The flowers smell divine. 2 7964 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 3742 |