EasyBloom Forum

I have a purple plum tree but it is very bare. I made sure the base of the tree isn't covered and I keep the suckers from growing but for some reason the tree is still really bare. I dont see any infestation on the tree or mold so I'm wondering what could be wrong.

Hey Jennifer...I'm sorry to hear this. When you say really bare, do you mean completely bare? Or does it have some leaves? The tree's bare branches may have many causes. Soil nutrition, soil compaction, amount of light, etc. I'm glad to hear that you keep the base, or crown, of the tree uncovered because that can cause rot to occur. How often do you water the tree? --Robby

It does have some leaves mostly at the top of the tree but the leaves are all curled up and tend to fall off easily. The tree is in full sun and the soil is a heavy clay. I water it once a week but only if we dont get a good rain.

Hmmm...To me this sounds like it may be waterlogging in the soil. If you have heavy clay, your soil may not be draining very quickly at all. This could bring about an oxygen deficiency in the rootzone of the plant which in turn can cause a die off of the roots. If roots are dying, they won't be able to support a large portion of the shoots (ie stems & leaves). The newest leaves would be the only ones that would stay on in an attempt to gather some light. Unfortunately, the plant we're talking about is a Purple Plum Tree and it would be difficult to superficially determine if the leaves are not as green as they should be. Leaves that turn yellow can be a sign of low oxygen concentration in the rootzone. I would use your EasyBloom to see how the soil is draining. It's entirely possible that watering once per week is too much for your tree in clay soil. Let me know how things progress. Happy Gardening. --Robby