Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Help! My oleander tree is turning brown. I live in Atlanta. Is it zoned for this area?

I own a oleander tree that has started to turn brown due to the cold weather. I bought it nearby, but I'm not sure that it's zoned for this area. I'm not sure why they would sell it here if it isn't. Any advice on what to do about it turning brown, or is it doomed?





Thanks!

Help! My oleander tree is turning brown. I live in Atlanta. Is it zoned for this area?
If you bought it locally they usually sell variety's that will grow in your area. Can you phone the nursery that you bought it from and inquire about it's care. You live in an 8 zone and most are suppose to be in a 9-10 zone. I would try digging the tree up if it is still alive and put it inside in a pot for the winter. Lots of people have them in Canada but they are a large house plant during the winter and only put out in the spring.
Reply:It's probably had the top frosted off. I live in Australia and we get down to 20 deg f. The top frosts and if the plant is a reasonable size you just prune off the frost damage and they shoot away again. They are pretty tough but it can get too cold for them.
Reply:i have 5 in my yard in seneca sc, (zone 7) they get stressed sometimes but usually come back...
Reply:Sorry, but oleanders are desert plants, and will die if they get too much water. I live where it never gets below 20F, and it is very arid. (southern CA)


If it is frost damage, you can hack it back. I would wait until after the last frost. People here cut theirs back to the ground, with about 10 inches left on the stems. They come back like gangbusters.
Reply:I have had 20 foot tall oleanders in Arizona, and the desert can get very cold, particularly 40 years ago, when we had snow in several years. No matter how cold it got I don't recall that they ever noticed.





They will need a lot less water in the winter, and even in the desert we did not water them (though they were near enough to the grass to gotten some water from there) so you might make sure you are not over watering them.





They grow fairly easily from a stick stuck in the ground so even doomed is not so doomed.
Reply:too far north. just have to wait and see in the spring. they abound in fla. where the buckeyes will stomp the gators.


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