Last October we planted a native frangipani in our back yard. The tree is approximately 2.5 metres high. We are on the Botany Bay coast, the soil is well nourished and well drained. PH test on the soil indicates it is at 7. the backyard is relatively protected from the wind.

The tree has been growing very well until about 3 months ago when we noticed some of the leaves have been curling up and dropping. This has escalated over the past month and we are losing a substantial number of leaves. There is no sign of any bug on the tree, even with all the recent rain, the soil is moist but not wet.

I have contacted the nursery the plant came from and they advised me to wait until spring and if it is not recovering then call an arborist (cost around $220).

Does anybody have any thoughts on whether I should be contacting an arborist now or wait, or any suggestions as to what may be the problem? The cost of replacing the tree will of course be more than $220 but it is an expense we could do without at the moment.

The same part of the garden has blueberry ash, lilli pilli, day lillies, native grasses, native dasies and native voilets - all of these plants are thriving!

Thanks in advance for any advice

Leonie

There is also a noticeable difference in vigor of plants within a block of seed grown trees at nurseries here, and I always look for the healthiest specimens over the larger ones when selecting this tree for gardens. It often seems that straggly plants never amount to much here, even after they have settled in. I love using this tree, as it can bloom multiple times from spring into fall, never gets too densely shading, fills the bill when something tall and narrow and evergreen is wanted, and the fragrance is heavenly. Surprising to find that a subtropical rainforest species from Queensland does so well in a summer dry Mediterranean climate, and is even quite frost hardy, easily tolerating down to 22F freezes here, with no permanent damage except complete defoliation.

we have had both a prolonged hot summer and then a relatively cold and wet onset of winter (coastal temps down to around 7c of an evening 9c to 15c of a day and rain consistently for about 6 weeks)limited clay - sets in at around 1.5 metres (we know this because we excavated for a pool prior to planting) top soil is relatively sandy, well drained - we did add some lime as a result of our initial research, just to raise the ph.

sounds like a wait and see job....... Just hate seeing the leaves drop when I know they are not suppose to.

Any feedback from those in Sydney - particularly the coast - I don't see many of them around here so hard to now what other native frangipanis are doing at present.

Cheers, L