Is my pittosporum dying ?

[Lisa_90]

Hi Everyone,

New here. I have pittosporum trees all along my fence line in the backyard which have been in the ground for about 6-7 years. They had grown huge and bushy and I had let them go without much care. This year I decided to give them some love. They have been cut twice this year by a gardner in April and the beginning of November. After the first time they were cut not long after they become lovely looking ,fluffy and green. Though over time they seemed to of thined out. I can see through them into the neighbours backyard. I have one tree in particular that has lost its leaves and has become stringy with twigs. I dont know whats wrong with it ? I have sprayed all the trees with Seasol and fed them with Dynamic Lifter pellets over the months. The trees now are looking a bit patchy, and I'm wondering why, since I've now been taking care of them. Please help !

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Lisa_90. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about pittosporum care.

I think it's important to understand exactly when the issue occurred. I note they looked great and bounced back, putting on new growth after the initial trim. When exactly did they start to thin out, and was it before or after this point that they were trimmed again? I noticed in your first image that the plant seems to have been trimmed back to be flush with the internal branch structure. Was this second trim potentially done too hard and stripped too much of the foliage off? I suspect this trim in November has removed most of the spring's new growth, and the plants are now struggling to fill out.

Hopefully in the coming year, you experience the same re-growth of foliage that infills the area. It's fairly important not to cut a plant so far back that it exposes internal branch structure as new foliage will find it hard to develop on the old-growth branches. Were the two trims done by the same person?

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Lisa_90]

The first image had already begun becomming thin in the middle top half prior to the first trim but did get some new growth that poked through after the first trim but since has become worse, and the sides of tree have become bare with stringy twigs, and the other tree pictured next to the smaller pittosporums has remained bare in one spot over the last two years after taking a tumble during a storm. The leaves never grew back, but other than one spot that is bare it is a relatively healthy tree. 

[Jason]

Thanks for the clarification @Lisa_90.

Let me call on a resident gardening expert @Noelle for her thoughts on your trees.

Jason

[Noelle]

Hi @Lisa_90 

I agree with @MitchellMc that the thinning is most likely due to the removal of all that fluffy new growth that occurred after the first trimming. Pittosporums are three dimensional shrubs but by cutting them back to a line, such as the edge of the bed, they are being pruned to fit a certain width and the interior of the trees is being exposed. 

In future when trimming, simply nip back the new shoots without cutting back into the older wood behind, so leaving fresh young tips in place. This very light haircut may encourage thickening of the outer covering of leaves. However, where the inner branches are already exposed, there is limited hope of a fresh covering of new leaves.