Bottle Brush Tree

Question

I have two bottle brush for about 12 years and they survived a hurricane with no problems at all. Then this year one of the trees has whole branches with leaves turning brown and completely dry like winter. What is wrong with it? Do I cut the limbs off? Not sure what to do but it took so long to train and grow it and I don’t want to loose it. I have another across the porch walk from the sick one that is having no problems.

Thanks
Julie

Answer 1

Julie, It’s hard to diagnose the die-back conditions from a photo, without knowing more about your soil and water management.
If I were able to inspect the plant and the growing conditions, the fist thing I would do is inspect for breakage that could cause one section/branch/leader to dieback.
Then I would dig down or use a soil moisture meter probe in the planting bed to assess the soil moisture content. If the rock has plastic under it then that could contribute to inability to water adequately. With high heat drought conditions that I’ve been hearing about in Texas, the water issue would be a big concern. If you think that could be it and the soil is dry, do a deep watering right away to save the plant.