The Lemon Fool

So we've got a bay tree in a pot and during the course of the summer its leaves got heat blasted and are now all grown and crispy, though it I do a scratch test at the base of the trunk it still shows green.

Should I take the dead leaves off, to encourage new growth, or just leave them for the new growth?
And if I should take them off, when?

Cheers
Slarti

Slarti wrote:So we've got a bay tree in a pot and during the course of the summer its leaves got heat blasted and are now all grown and crispy, though it I do a scratch test at the base of the trunk it still shows green.

Should I take the dead leaves off, to encourage new growth, or just leave them for the new growth?
And if I should take them off, when?

Cheers
Slarti

I would resist the temptation to remove the unsightly leaves and wait until mid-spring next year and then prune back to healthy buds.

RC

If the leaves are brown and crispy, as far as the tree is concerned they are no longer there. Their connection to the sap system will have been sealed off at the base of the leaf's stalk. Removing them will make no difference, apart from the aesthetics.

I'd leave them on, even dead leaves would provide some protection against wind chill or frosts.

Thanks guys.

Saves me a job, for now


Slarti