A couple of weeks ago, the foliage of two Dwarf Lilly Pillies in our Sydney garden were scorched in the heat. Each tree is about 4 m tall and have been really healthy since they were planted 15 years ago. It reached about 45 deg C in the shade on that day, so it was probably about 55 deg C in the full sun. Since then, both trees have begun to drop all their leaves, which were burned to a crisp, not by fire, but just the heat of the day. There is no sign of any leaf regrowth yet. What are the chances of the two trees surviving this event? If they do survive, is there anything I can do to aid their recovery other than giving them plenty of water? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Stephen
Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Hopefully this wonderful rain will help your plants. Once the rain has stopped I would give the plants a feed of native fertiliser and lightly prune the branches to encourage new growth.