Q.horse chestnut is getting brown crispy leaves
Hi. I just planted a horse chestnut tree( 3 feet) in Salinas California, a very sunny area. The leaves are all getting brown and crispy. Says it takes full sun but looks like it is burning up. Watering it every day? help… should I get it out of the sun? It is now July and some days are hot( 80’s) and all sunny.
What should I do?
ellen
The intense dry hot summer and fall will be a critical time for your horse chestnut tree to get a root system established. It needs regular watering through October and maybe until it starts raining or goes dormant in December.
It may have suffered some transplant shock or water deficit during the planting process. Hopefully that was not severe and the leaf loss is temporary and the tree will re-foliate.
Water deeply if you think that has not been done adequately. Not just a sprinkle, but a thorough flooding/saturation of the soil surface and as deep as the planted root ball. Mulch the soil surface with an organic material like compost or fir bark mulch from a garden center. Repeat the watering in a couple of days and then weekly through August. If it hasn't put out new growth by then, it may not recover.
