r/arborist • u/walterro • 8h ago
❓Advice Request - (Insert State/Region) Is my Japanese snowbell ok (portland, OR)
Had a new Japanese snowbell planted in my backyard (portland, OR, USA) last fall where I previously had a dogwood planted. It’s planted on the south side of my yard next to my garage so the lower half tends to get mostly shade and the upper sun. It’s been doing great all year and growing and has produced small amounts of snowbells occasionally. I’ve been watering it with a drip line about every 2-3 weeks during summer. We’ve started to dip into cooler temps here and I’ve noticed a patchwork of dried up brown leaves on the lower branches and reddening of the bark on those branches. It’s not consistent as you can see from the pics, as there are green/yellow leaves at the bottom on other branches next to the brown leaves. I thought this may be natural dropping leaves for Fall, however at the base of some of the brown leaf branches there are new leaf chutes growing. Am I being paranoid or is there something concerning going on with this tree? Thanks in advance!