In article , MM
writes
On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 21:29:01 +0100, Kay
wrote:


It'll be the wind. I think the mechanism is basically drought - the cold
dry winds drying out the leaves faster than the roots can supply them
with water. The brown bits won't recover. I would replace the one at the
end. The others don't look too bad, and if they survive (they may have
damage which hasn't yet revealed itself) will start looking good again.
It might be worth protecting them from the wind - put a temporary
barrier around the side (or sides) that the wind comes from - not too
dense (else you might get turbulence), but enough to break up the power
of the wind.

I had a similar problem getting an Araucaria established - I put a wind
break around it for the first two winters.

Good idea, Kay, but when I say 'severe wind', I mean gale force
sometimes. It has been blowing so stongly on some occasions that
anything loose in the garden just blows away. Wheelbarrows get
upturned, watering cans - metal ones - blown about. I wonder what kind
of windbreak would last more than a week before it was flattened.

One which was not solid. I forgot to mention - but that's the other
reason for not having a solid windbreak. Upright stakes in the ground
with supple twigs woven in and out so that it breaks the wind but
doesn't stop it completely.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"