Laburnum problem

smith.stephanie

I have an old laburnum which flowers perfectly, and I grew one from its seeds and planted that a few years ago and that also flowers well. This year it has no leaves but small yellow flowers in bunches, not pendulous as they should be. Anyone any ideas please?

Dovefromabove

And it has no leaves either … it looks very unhappy. 

As you say, it’s an old tree … they don’t last for ever … I think it’s useful days are over 😢  …  but every lost plant is a a new planting opportunity 😃 

smith.stephanie

Thank you for your comment. This is the one I grew from seed and the old parent plant is very old but flowers perfectly each year. It’s a mystery!

Dovefromabove

Ah … I misunderstood your post. My apologies. 

Did the tree in the picture have leaves when it flowered in previous years? 

It looks to be close to several large trees and shrubs. Is it possible that it’s yet another victim of the very dry spring we’re experiencing?  Has it been watered this season? 

smith.stephanie

It has always had leaves and flowers as normal but this year, just this. We are on a slight hill so our garden is always fairly damp but I always water the trees when doing the rest of the garden.

Dovefromabove

It might be worth digging a hole a couple of feet deep in the area somewhere near your tree and see if it really is nice and damp down near root level. 

We were doing some planting at the weekend and while the top inch or so of the border was really moist, a trowel’s depth lower down it was dry as dust.  I know we’re on ‘free-draining loam’ here, but we had several hours of rain the other day … that’s really a little too free-draining 😧

smith.stephanie

Thank you for that idea, I will try that. The trees and shrubs around are not too tall, but they all seem ok, it’s just that laburnum. The original one is on the other side of the garden, so conditions there must be more favourable perhaps. It has certainly given me something to think about. Thank you for taking time to consider the problem.