I think my Metasequoia is dying. I can't figure out why. I kept it protected from the frosts in my back hall, and it thrived. Then it started to look like it was wilting. So I watered it. Then I was advised that I had probably overwatered it and that I should put it outside and "forget about it".
I had to stake it because for some reason our normally sheltered garden turned into a wind tunnel. The fairly delicate branches snapped in some places. When the laundry on the line tipped it over I moved it to the corner of the garden known as The Isleworth Pinetum and sheltered it behind the huge Abies nordmanniana.
So much for letting it dry out - we've had heavy rains all weekend with more forecast. It looks even more forsaken than it did before I put it outside. It seems to be dying from the top down, with more and more branches wilting. I really don't know what to do about it. I've been advised not to repot it, but somewhere a maternal instinct I think is kicking in, because I have an overwhelming biological urge to repot it!
I'm pretty miserable about it, as it's critically endangered in the wild and I felt I was doing "my bit". It was also part of my birthday present from Hubster, so I feel wretched for not taking better care of it. I've also had so much success with the other plants that this apparent failure on my part has hit me quite hard. I feel like a wuss getting all panicky about it - more experienced gardeners must find my paranoia highly amusing. Shit happens and stuff dies, but I feel like a junior doctor dealing with their first patient death.
I don't know if I should trim off the dying bit to see if that helps. I suppose it can't do any harm. I wish the cuttings I took had done better though - I think all but two have failed to take, and I'm not even sure the two remaining ones will grow new roots.
Fail.
So much for letting it dry out - we've had heavy rains all weekend with more forecast. It looks even more forsaken than it did before I put it outside. It seems to be dying from the top down, with more and more branches wilting. I really don't know what to do about it. I've been advised not to repot it, but somewhere a maternal instinct I think is kicking in, because I have an overwhelming biological urge to repot it!
I'm pretty miserable about it, as it's critically endangered in the wild and I felt I was doing "my bit". It was also part of my birthday present from Hubster, so I feel wretched for not taking better care of it. I've also had so much success with the other plants that this apparent failure on my part has hit me quite hard. I feel like a wuss getting all panicky about it - more experienced gardeners must find my paranoia highly amusing. Shit happens and stuff dies, but I feel like a junior doctor dealing with their first patient death.
I don't know if I should trim off the dying bit to see if that helps. I suppose it can't do any harm. I wish the cuttings I took had done better though - I think all but two have failed to take, and I'm not even sure the two remaining ones will grow new roots.
Fail.
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