Horse Chestnut dying

[hesslemount]

Based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Taking down quite a few horse chestnuts that are aborting fruit very early with leaves curling up and drying out early. Death seems inevitable. No clear signs of bleeding canker other than a little at tree's base. No bootlace evident under bark for honey fungus. Trees are from 45-250 years old. Any ideas? Wood has been dried out to a greater extent higher in the canopy.

 

 

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[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Taking down quite a few horse chestnuts that are aborting fruit very early with leaves curling up and drying out early. Death seems inevitable. No clear signs of bleeding canker other than a little at tree's base. No bootlace evident under bark for honey fungus. Trees are from 45-250 years old. Any ideas? Wood has been dried out to a greater extent higher in the canopy.

 

 

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a combination of Chestnut canker, leaf miner and drought i imagine.

 

if trees get over the initial phase of canker they can occlude well but the drain on reserves of energy in doing so means there is no stretch left in the defensive rubber band.

[rupert w]

Phytophthora? Perhaps.

[Chris at eden]

Agree with Tony on the bleeding canker and leaf miner, drought also possible. Bartletts have had some success in treating bleeding canker by use of decompaction and potassium based fertilizer. Pottasium phosphite i think specifically. Theory is that the HC does not know its being attached so does not defend itself against the bacteria. The use of the fertilizer kick starts what Glynn Percival refers to as a systemic induced response. The tree then goes about attacking the disease.

 

The benefit of the treatment is that it addresses many issues. Honey fungus and bleeding canker are both associated with sub-optimal soil conditions so this treatment can help prevent either and certainly treat the latter. Also mulching beneath the dripline after threatment should also help improve the rooting area and help with the drought if this is an issue. Improving living conditions for the tree should increae the production of energy and refuel the defesive rubber band as Tony refes to it. More energy available for the production of allellochemicals and phenolic compounds = trees better equiped for defense. For more info see Bartletts website, they have papers on the this treatment and some interesting research into using sugar to improve root growth.

 

Hope this helps,

[Chris at eden]

Oh yeah, Bartletts have also just brought out a stem injection treatment for HCLM using a treatment called revive i think. They recon it lasts for a minimum of 3 years based on trials. You cant apply it or even buy it yourself without training though. Lantra are about to release a new L3 qualifiction to administer the treatment so you would need that first.

 

Cheers,