Fall. Even in Houston.

I appreciate your response. I wondered about this too, but then had two additional questions which made me wonder. If it was fall, then 1) where is the beautiful color that the pistache is supposed to have? And 2) why is it losing its leaves from the bottom up? The bottom is now bare, and the top 5 feet still has green to brown leaves?

fall color is variable.. year to year ... based on a myriad of issues ...

you could probably ponder those variables.. while staring at your belly button.. until next years leaf drop..

and not come to any conclusions ... lol ...

your tree is acting weird.. because it was a 20 foot transplant ... in my estimate.. 3 to 5 years... before it is settled in.. considered ESTABLISHED... and growing closer to norms ...

with a transplant that size .. there is a possibility ... that you do have problems... you might want to discuss it with your seller.. if you have a warranty ... or post a pic to see.. if we can see anything ...

ken

fall color is variable.. year to year ... based on a myriad of issues ...

you could probably ponder those variables.. while staring at your belly button.. until next years leaf drop..

and not come to any conclusions ... lol ...

your tree is acting weird.. because it was a 20 foot transplant ... in my estimate.. 3 to 5 years... before it is settled in.. considered ESTABLISHED... and growing closer to norms ...

with a transplant that size .. there is a possibility ... that you do have problems... you might want to discuss it with your seller.. if you have a warranty ... or post a pic to see.. if we can see anything ...

ken

Thanks for your reply. I've attached a few pics. I did notice an interesting new growth when taking up up close pic of the leaves. Any ideas what pictures indicate?

Here's another pic

You say the tree was planted only a year ago -- what kind of watering did it receive this summer? Trees - even ones that are supposed to be very drought tolerant - need regular deep waterings for their first couple of seasons in the ground.

Without anything else to go on, I'd suspect some drought stress during summer caused the bottom leaf drop and the recent heavy rains has prompted the new growth.

It doesn't look bad, probably still dealing with some transplant stress. This recent uptick in rain will help it out. I'd remove the stakes this winter. It has a good shape, and needs to stand on its own.

Now, if it doesn't fill out and look good by next April, I'd start to get worried.

Are the other pistaches in your locale already leafed out? If so, then this tree is behind at best and probably on it's deathbed. If the local pistaches haven't leafed out, then you just need some patience.

You can scratch the bark on a small branch with your fingernail. If it is green, it is alive. If it is brown, that branch is dead. If you do this and you do find green, don't scratch it again for at least a month.

I think I'm going to try deep root feeding with a Ross feeder. What type of fertilizer should I use for a pistache?

Is it being strangled by the rather tight looking wires? I've seen that a time or three.

It also appears to be planted in a deep pit; it could just be an illusion.

Astro, if someone hasn't yet, I'm going to tell you-so-called "deep-root feeding" is a complete waste. The feeder roots, those that actually absorb water from the soil-with nutrients dissolved in that water-are shallow, upturned things, just under the turf usually. Now every tree is different, and somewhere, for some reason, there is an exception, like in fissured, karst soil, where air gets far down into the soil profile, but that's an extreme case, not the usual one.

Also, if anybody in the world knows what level of nutrients a Chinese pistache needs....and if you know precisely what levels of these nutrients are presently found in your yard's soil, then you would have a scientific basis for knowing what to use and how much of it to use. But nobody does, you don't and it doesn't matter anyway. Simply providing a light application of any lawn fertilizer, on top of the ground or mulch layer if present, is all you need to do, if that.

See what I'm saying? Because of the vast acreages devoted to, say, growing corn, agronomists have worked out very detailed nutrient schedules for that crop, across a wide variety of soil types and nutrition levels. But Chinese pistache? No, definitely not.

+oM

The CPs are just starting to bud out in Dallas, so you should be at least a week or two ahead of us. Hopefully could still be transplant shock accentuated by your hot dry summer. But because they're pretty solid in Texas clay without any fertilizing beyond what's applied to the surrounding lawn or beds, would start looking for other causes if it does not leaf out well this spring.

Am guessing you had help planting a tree that's already 20 ft tall at one year in the ground. Could be worth talking with the nursery or landscaper about the possibilities of wrong planting depth or girdled roots. Was it a container grown tree? Neil Sperry (a Texas gardening specialist) has an example of this sort of problem here: Chinese Pistache.

Interested to know, how did this tree turn out? I have two Chinese Pistashe trees that are losing their leaves from the bottom, but still healthy at top.

it is september darin.. no matter where you are... and its been a tough year... early leaf shed is not all that uncommon ...

you probably should have started your own post ... as whatever happened to these trees is probably irrelevant to yours .... back in the day you could not receive replies to someone elses post ... maybe they changed that ..

where are you... big city name.. whats the weather been since spring.. and how about a pic or two ... how long in the ground.. if recent how you planted.. how was that done.. how do you water ... whats your soil type... etc.. etc.. etc ...

most importantly.. have you been in drought????

welcome to the forums ...

ken