Will My Monkey Puzzle Tree Survive?

Question

I have a monkey puzzle tree which was planted in my front garden about 6/7 years ago. It has been doing fine but this year it suddenly started to go brown at the bottom. I read that they do die at the bottom branches as they grow however this browning has continued right the way up the tree and only some of the ends of the branches are green. Is it dying and too late to save? Love this tree and it always gets comments from people walking by. My gardener thinks it is due to the lack of water this year and is talking about chopping it down and replacing with something else. 🙁

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Answer 1

These trees are only moderately drought tolerant and should receive regular watering. Look closely and make sure it doesn't have a pest such as scale. They can be hard to see. Since your gardener wants to remove it, you could first try cutting it back to about 12 inches and see if it grows back green, and keep it watered when rainfall is absent.

Here is more about the tree:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST081

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/araucaria-araucana/

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/scale-insects/