Poor growth at the tops of young trees

[Lin11]

In the last few weeks I have noticed poor growth and dead tips at the tops of several young trees in our garden. The foliage and growth on the rest of the trees seem fine and there doesn't seem to be any problem with their bark.

 

I was wondering if anyone had any theories as to what the causes of this could be? It may be unrelated but a young birch in our garden has completely died this year and about 2/3rds of a 20 year+ Robinia Frisia appears to be dead. Below are some pics of the trees with affected tops:

 

Mountain ash

 

Himalyan Birch

 

Liquidamber

[treesnatcher]

Is it an exposed location to wind or near coastal area?

Not much hope for the robinia, removing several a week at moment just like eucalyptus 2 years ago.

[Gary Prentice]

There's other problems with 'Frisia' (have a quick search on here) so that may not be related to the issues with the younger trees.

 

My first thoughts would be lack of water/too much water, but I'm probably totally wrong lol

[10 Bears]

Could you provide a bit more information about what has happened on the ground and in the local area (if anything):

 

- has there been any flooding in the last couple of years?

- have you had any loading on the root plates? e.g. delivery of soil?

- has there been any trenching works nearby? particularly along a bordering fence line?

- is there any airborne pollutants getting to site? eg from farms, building sites, factories, salt spray from a motorway etc.

- have you applied any fertilizers or nitrogen to the lawns?

- unusual weather, location and exposure is also a key bit of information, but that has been asked above

 

Now, more obvious questions about what you may have seen in the garden:

- is there any signs of fungal fruiting bodies either on the tree or ground near to these trees (could be now, or check back to winter)

- are there any other signs? eg insect bore holes in the stem or leaves, necrotic bark slough etc.

- is there any composting at the base?

 

I'm sure I could come up with a few more questions once Ive got the answers to these, that should give me a chance at working this out - however at the moment there isnt enough information to say.

[Lin11]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

has there been any flooding in the last couple of years?

 

Our soil is clay and our garden has been quite waterlogged at times due to the high amounts of rain from last spring onwards. The 3 affected trees are in areas less affected by this waterlogging.

 

have you had any loading on the root plates? e.g. delivery of soil?

- has there been any trenching works nearby? particularly along a bordering fence line?

- is there any airborne pollutants getting to site? eg from farms, building sites, factories, salt spray from a motorway etc.

- have you applied any fertilizers or nitrogen to the lawns?

- unusual weather, location and exposure is also a key bit of information, but that has been asked above

 

There is sometimes crop spraying in one of the fields bordering our garden and the Moutain Ash is only a few yards from this field; however the Liquidamber is at the opposite end of the garden and about 100 yards away with several taller trees in the way.

Along the other side of one of the borders of our garden there is large number of dead and dying Elm trees although these are only close to the Birch.

 

Now, more obvious questions about what you may have seen in the garden:

- is there any signs of fungal fruiting bodies either on the tree or ground near to these trees (could be now, or check back to winter)

- are there any other signs? eg insect bore holes in the stem or leaves, necrotic bark slough etc.

- is there any composting at the base?

 

No to all the above-however I've looked at the trees a couple of times today and have noticed quite a few gnats flying around the tops of the Liquidambar and Mountain Ash- don't know if this is relevant.

[woodyguy]

The Birch, Sorbus and Robinia all prefer drier soils. So water logging may well be stunting their growth.

[Peasgood]

Very nearly looks like Roundup damage, especially the first one.

[10 Bears]

Hmm, I agree with the comments above as you have a couple of interesting points to consider.

 

-What has been sprayed in the fields?

- Waterlogging is a problem - and can being in containments from unknown sources if the water level breaches boundaries

- What issues are being harboured in the Elms?

 

My primary thoughts are it could be some form of airborne spray from the fields - but obviously this will depend on exactly what was sprayed. Any droplet cloud wouldn't necessarily move across your property in a single curtain of particles. There would be a degree of turbulent forces that will 'ball' the droplets into smaller groups/particle clouds and they will deposit at different points in the garden, which explains the apparent random selection of trees. I also think that this potential event has been compounded with the waterlogging causing additional stress.

 

As for the Elms, well, I would have more concerns that these were a source of a problem if you started to mention fungal fruiting bodies so perhaps they are not the issue right now, but one to watch for the future.

 

I would find out of the farmer what has been sprayed in the last 2-3 years, in particular find out if there has been any boom spraying of fertilizer or herbicide and exactly what was in the mix. There would be no way of appointing blame of course, but it may give you the answer that you are looking for, and you could advise him that there may be some drift problems when he is in your end of the field.

 

Please bear in mind that this is all guess work, with only a little information via the internet and is the best I can summarise right now. Hope it helps.