Xmas Tree Not Well Make It Smile Again

[SLOPPY]

Hi again and thanks for the above comments.

 

"The tree is about 15 years old and lives in Manchester..."

 

I put that thinking the age of the tree may be of importance and may help towards the diagnosis and was only thinking best to give as much info a possible lol, also wanted to give it's location as perhaps the climate also may be connected, hey like I said I know nothing about trees, may be I'm just missing a joke.

 

No construction next to the tree btw, well only a extension about 4 houses up the road lol

 

Watered my tree extensively last night, fingers crossed I should have the lights back on at Xmas

 

Cheers all

[TGB]

...

I put that thinking the age of the tree may be of importance and may help towards the diagnosis and was only thinking best to give as much info a possible lol, also wanted to give it's location as perhaps the climate also may be connected, hey like I said I know nothing about trees, may be I'm just missing a joke...

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. You gave plenty of info, without having to be asked for more. The joke was not about you or your knowledge base but simple a wisecrack on my part. Once again, I apologise for the quip.

[geoff]

As Steve said, I would give the tree a mulch around the base,after scraping the grass off, well rotted chippings would be good, or even a little good clean compost.

Dont drown it, bur give it a gentle watering every couple of days in very dry weather,making sure to get the water around the drip line of the tree, so it can benefit all the root structure.

You could mix an egg cup full of molasses in the watering can, do this once, then again after a week or so.

Another trick that has proved useful in compacted soil, is to lay corrugated cardboard, like is used in boxes, around the base of the tree, perforate it first, put the mulch on top, you could do this once the soil has been moistened, it attracts worms, they break up the compacted soil. Just make sure to gently stake the cardboard so it doesn't blow away!

[10 Bears]

"And on the sixth day, God created Manchester"

 

Gods own City, and there can be no doubt.

 

As for the tree, yes, you took too much off the top and that was the start of the problem as in simple terms, the tree still has a root system that was developed for the size of the tree that it was before you topped it. The result is that it will now have a series of hormonal triggers to redress the imbalance and this process of mending itself can cause a variety of other stresses to come into play as the healing process will take a lot of energy. In short, you shouldn't have topped it - but that is done now so you will have to live with it.

 

The comments about a good, treated, organic mulch around the base of the tree to the drip-line and an irrigation regime are spot on, as I think the tree looks drought stressed too. Even the comment on it being one sided as a response to wind affect is also entirely plausible. Do you know the predominant wind direction in your area or is there a possible funnelling of wind between buildings perhaps?

 

As for the cracking, these simply look like growth cracks to me which are common in the species. As you know, trees grow in annual rings (mostly) and for the newly formed wood underneath to be able to overlay the previous years growth, something has to give which causes the cracks in the bark. You can see it much easier in some species then others, and I think that is what you are seeing here.

 

Other then the suggestions made in the comments above, I think you will be doing all you can. Perhaps a final note on the watering though, the watering shouldn't be absolutely hammered at the base of the tree, as the main area that trees suck up water from is more towards the root tips where the fine root hairs are, so a distributed watering perhaps from a wide area garden sprinkler may be better - but still mulch and keep the mulch moist through the summer.

 

Best of luck with it in any case.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

and lastly, has the lawn been "weed and feed" treated lately?

[Andrew Gale]

You beat me to it Tony, that looks a very well kept lawn..

[Gnome]

If it was one of mine I would put the leaf blower on it to remove as much of the dried needles from the tree and around the base. edge and mulch as above without piling it up at the base of the trunk and take another picture. Then monitor it to see how much is turning brown. I would also be thinking of removing some of those branches next year to give a better shape and improve air flow through the tree.

[SLOPPY]

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. You gave plenty of info, without having to be asked for more. The joke was not about you or your knowledge base but simple a wisecrack on my part. Once again, I apologise for the quip.

 

Absolutely none taken my friend, just feel like a fish out of water on here given my lack of gardening knowledge so had to read a few times lol

 

Thanks for all your input it has really been helpful. I'm off tomorrow and indeed I will start digging a drip line perimeter and add mulch as per suggestions and a weekly sprinkle of molasses but first I will use my petrol blower to remove the needle carpet.

 

Interesting comments about the watering, I did only water mostly the base of the tree and didn't realise the roots would be sprouting off in different directions and therefore should be spraying further out so nice tip.

 

No not had the lawn treated ever I just keep it nice and short as not to give the weeds a chance, although next doors lawn is about 2 meters away and I have seen gardeners treating there's, although lets assume that this was the cause would you expect the brown branches on there side when in fact the damage is all on my side?

 

Not sure about the wind direction either, the trees in a pretty open position without any near by influences if I can put it like that.

 

Anyway there's plenty to go off here and may I say your input is much appreciated. I will post another picy should I see any improvements, thanks again