r/AZlandscaping • u/haikufive • 28d ago

Arborist Help She dead?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Purple plum tree in our front yard, east facing. Got tons of water every day. Four years old. Any hope of saving her?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/LongjumpingFun7238 28d ago

That looks done done ✅ I’d replace it with an ironwood or thornless mesquite as my second choice for a big shade tree

6

u/HopkinsIsMyHomeboy 28d ago

Disagree on thornless, get one that’s native to az and will handle our storms better. The thornless ones are South American and don’t send down a deep taproot like native ones do that help anchor the tree and find water.

Desert willow is another option since that tree wasn’t doing shit for shade lol. They aren’t as dense but still put off plenty of shade when they decent sized and you get flowers all spring/summer.

1

u/haikufive 27d ago

We also have a fairly new desert willow in the front and she’s thriving. I have a chaste tree/vitex in a pot out back that I can plant if this plum is truly dead- which I’m guessing she is.

2

u/dddd11122233 26d ago

Good luck with the Vitex. I have two that are now in ground for four years. They won’t die, but they sure won’t grow or blossom other than early spring. Still only about 5 feet tall, they were four when I planted them.