Bottle Brush

Question

Hi, I have about 20 large bottle brush trees forming a high hedge both sides of our large house. Over the last 6-12 months branches have been dying back , with the leaves going brown first and then dying. I have been cutting dead branchs off but more seem to be dying. I have tried a few things ie more water, less water and native fertiliser but no change. I live in Longreach western Qld, hot dry climate. The trees are about 15 years old. Any advice on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Brian

Answer 1

Your trees could potentially have a borer or a root rot disease. But, more likely, the problems are caused by environmental conditions. Check whether anything has changed recently in the trees’ environment. They may also need fertilizer- bottle brush trees tend to develop iron deficiency.