Corylus Contortia Problem

666panda

Hi All,

My husbands and I bought this beautiful tree on our first wedding anniversary. We've only been lucky enough to have a garden for the past year and a half so we're still a bit wet behind the ears with some aspects of gardening!

Anyway, our lovely tree is not looking so happy. It's in a large pot on the patio and was fine up until about Spring this year.

Does anyone have any ideas of what might be wrong?

Last edited: 05 August 2017 14:26:17

fidgetbones

Do those brown knobs on the stem in the middle photo come off if you flick them with a fingernail? I am thinking scale insect.  Can you do a close up of them?

Dovefromabove

Yes, if you open that photo in a new tab, then zoom in, they look like scale insects to me.  We've had several reports of the blighters on hazels this year.  

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=455 

Iamweedy

It is going to be quite a large plant and it is in a very small pot. That is not going to get growing properly and healthy left in there, with or without the scale insects  I would certainly get it in the ground ASAP. 

I have a supplementary question about my  Contorta and pruning it .  Mine has been in a good few years now. I do cut it back but it is quite difficult to  know where to actually cut these very contorted stems/ branches. I don't want to over do it and kill it. There is lots of old wood in it but it is growing well.  

 

Borderline

The stems on the Corylus do not look well. The wood looks like it's possibly infected with Corol spot, which indicates wood dying or dead already. Others might have a different opinion. But, I recommend you carefully prune off the areas that look blackened. Prune off till you see wood without this colour and raised bobbled look. Clean the equipment thoroughly afterwards. 

As Iamweedy suggests, it's grown in a pot far too small. Watering inconsistently can be an issue with pots and tree/shrubs. 

Regards to pruning, just shape them to how you want. It's ideal to do little and often because they are very fine branches when young, and can become congested. Prune off branches that can start to rub with others, a bit like thinning out, but not too far down. 

Last edited: 05 August 2017 16:42:20

666panda

Thank you! After a little flicking, it does indeed seem to look like scale insect. They've left behind this afterwards...

Is like a white powdery substance. Thank you for the link on how I can combat that.

It is our intention to get it in the ground. We're currently doing the rest of the garden and didn't want to commit at first!

Thanks all.