[Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

[msrog at yahoo.com]

Savannah
85373
msrog at yahoo.com

Hi, I have a question about why my Jacarandas aren't growing here in north Phoenix... 

We had our first one planted when we moved into this new-construction home, then that winter were the famed Phoenix frosts. The pitiful tree didn't survive. Hubby pulled it out and bought another for me from Lowe's or somewhere, but it hasn't really grown any taller or ever flowered, either. We get fernlike foliage, but it seems to fall out just as quickly as it grows, so there is no visible growth in size. It's possible the store's trees all suffered in the frost, too, I guess. 

I notice that the posts mention full sun and well-drained soil, sparse watering before blooming season, and shallow roots. Could these be our problems? Our tree is in a side spot of the yard that only gets morning and very early afternoon sun. Plus it's on an automatic watering system with the other trees (citrus and leafy sissoo), once a week deep watered. I was watering manually a bit on the jacaranda 3-4 times a week because I planted flowering groundcover underneath the tree. 

Oh, and I was trying to encourage it to grow taller, so I lopped off a couple of little sprouts a week or two ago that were growing low on the trunk. 

Am I treating the tree all wrong? Is there any hope for the tree? Hubby wants to throw it out and plant something else there unless there is progress. I just love the way they look in bloom around town, but ours looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, and it is hard to imagine it will ever grow like the pictures of Jacarandas I see on this site... 

Thanks in advance, 
Savannah (please email me with advice, msrog at yahoo.com)