Lin11

Thanks for all the replies. 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. 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. 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.

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

About 8 years ago we had a limb removed from a mature multi-stemmed eucalyptus tree. Over the years the stump has gradually rotted and now has a hole around 6 inches deep in it with the wood at the bottom extremley soft and rotten. Can anyone offer me any advice on the best way to stop it rotting further and whether to cover the hole to stop water/creatures getting in? Also, how harmful is this hole likely to be for the rest of the tree? Thanks. :-) Here's a link to a picture of the stump: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting