Anything I can do to stop my 13ft Cordyline from dying? Please help?
United Kingdom 
Hi,
you guys seem to know almost everything about these trees; I absolutely love them, didn't want to wait until it grows as our garden was rather a blank slate when we bought this house and we got one on eBay. We had asked the seller whether the root has been damaged when she took it out into a pot and she said no, the rootball is wrapped in cloth and plastic.
Based on her eBay feedback we trusted the response, went to buy it, and drove quite a long distance to pick it up, put it in our garden straight away. (now 10 wks ago) It looked OK at first but now it really is apparent that the leaves are dying out, even the central bits, and it seems as though she is dying. It's a green with relatively short leaves so from what I've read it should be quite a resilient plant. We've done the lot, fish blood and bone to feed, fresh compost in the hole where we put her, now secured (as the strong wind was causing quite a lot of movement lately).
Perhaps the tree really was damaged in the first place? Or is there anything we can do to rescue her (e.g. put in a pot?) It's about 13ft high and really pretty; the soil around the hole where she is is rather solid but neighbours have those trees too so the soil shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks
On plant
Cordylis Australis
22 May, 2009
Answers
You don,t say what time of year this plant was moved ?
If it was actively growing then it has had a severe shock.
It is best to plant something like this in March or early
April, NEVER in summer unless bought in a pot.
Transplanting something this big is very risky. The
roots will take time to grow out into the soil and in the
meantime the plant cannot take up water or nutrients.
Don,t move it again. All you can do is give it gallons
of water every day when there is no rain and wet the
foliage as well. Be sure it is firmly staked until it starts
to grow.
Cordylines don,t like to be transplanted and are always
best bought in the pot they were grown in, and planted
young.They will grow quite fast.
Hope you can save it !
Mikejardinero
23 May, 2009
I would also suggest that without touching the tree or its roots at all you loosen the soil around as you say it is 'fairly solid' if by this you mean you have a clay soil then you really should have put in a lot of humus and compost before planting the poor tree. At 13 ft. it is going to struggle for a while.
23 May, 2009
Previous question
« Am i too late planting Gladioli, to get flowers this year???
If it were only the bottom leaves i would say its normal for them to die off, but if its the central leaves at the top of the plant i would be worried, Mine went a bit yellow last year and i was worried untill i noticed it was flowering and knew it was OK, It soon recovered, So dont give up on it yet, wait and see what happens..
22 May, 2009