trees dying

[bill]

just looked at a job near me and i was shocked at the trees health. you had about 5 mature syc's, a few oaks and a few beech. on all the tree the leaves were dying off and they all looked in decline. the ground was really water logged and appartently there was a sewage run off from a few houses near by that had been there for 6/7 years but i guess that it would be filtered correctly. as there were more then one species being effected can you rule out some kind of disease? apparently there has been no root damage done by landscapers, but the land had been cleared, maybe they used a weedkiller to clear the land but the area effected is quite large? does anyone have any ideas to look into?

[Mr Ed]

waterlogging will cause suffocation of of the roots.

[RPA]

waterlogging will cause suffocation of of the roots.

 

 

Heavy metals, neutriant diff, etc from sewage

[bill]

as the land has been landscaped, maybe the trees have also been suffercated by the base of the stems being covered with soil,turf etc? if they have covered them with topsoil and the turfed upto the base of the stems this will cause suffercation right? they have also layed some type of crushed stone around these trees i take it this could also be causing the problem? if this the problem would it be too late for the bases to be cleared, if the tree is showing signs of distress with alot of leaves dying?

[Mr Ed]

crushed stone and turf will be bad if compacted. I would get Lee in to aeriate the soil around the roots.

[Linda]

crushed stone and turf will be bad if compacted. I would get Lee in to aeriate the soil around the roots.

 

I'd look into the problem a bit further before recommending decompaction as there may be many factors involved.

[Mr Ed]

crushed stone and turf will be bad if compacted. I would get Lee in to aeriate the soil around the roots.

 

I'd look into the problem a bit further before recommending decompaction as there may be many factors involved.

 

If compacted, then aeriation is the best treatment.

[Linda]

If compacted, then aeriation is the best treatment.

 

I'm not disagreeing, just saying that perhaps if toxic waste is involved it'll take a little more than decomp to solve it. Soil vac perhaps if the trees are worth it.

[Mr Ed]

I'm not disagreeing, just saying that perhaps if toxic waste is involved it'll take a little more than decomp to solve it. Soil vac perhaps if the trees are worth it.

 

True, but runoff water from a treatment unit is highly unlikely to be toxic.

I appreciate your point though, a soil analysis would be advisable.

[Paul Barton]

the base of the stems being covered with soil,turf etc? if they have covered them with topsoil and the turfed upto the base of the stems this will cause suffercation right?

 

Topsoil and turf shouldn't be a problem for aeration and water uptake, but if the soil level has been altered significantly that could cause problems.

 

As has been said, if the ground is waterlogged this would suggest a poor soil structure which could use some aeration.