Change of grade around tree - dying!

mancunian

My husband has slowly changed the level of soil around a once beautiful Amelanchier Canadensis to at least a foot higher than it was and possibly 18" on one side. I remember reading that changing the level of soil will choke trees. For the last couple of years it has been getting sicker and sicker, some branches dying, flowers and fruit and leaves getting thinner. Can anything be done to save it? Would slowly removing the extra soil until down to the original level help it recover? This in a small city garden and would be greatly missed. I should mention that this tree has been growing happily in the same location for 30 years until the dumping soil started.
Any help would be much appreciated!

dov

What kind of period of time are we talking about with the change in soil grade? Also is it soil or grass clippings? Removing the new soil down to just above the original level could well help. It will allow more air to get to the roots and increase the amount of available water. As the grade has increased, so has water runoff one would presume. If you find tree roots in the lower layers of the new soil, leave soil of at least a few inches above them.

Also has the new soil been right up against the trunk? This could quite well be causing the current issues.

mancunian

Many thanks dov! The time period was probably around 3 years, I didn't notice at first. It is soil from other parts of the garden not grass clippings or other garden debris. Yes, it does go right to the trunk. Yes you are right it does cause run off too.

I will start today and begin removing soil keeping a watch out for roots. How slowly do you think I should remove the build up?

Anything you can tell me would really be appreciated.

PS. my husband still doesn't believe that building up the soil around a tree can do any damage. I believe removing soil from the original level is also damaging, is this correct?

dov

Different trees seem to deal with these things in different ways. This tree does seem to have been impacted badly by the extra soil. My advice is just remove the soil back to around the original level, especially just around the trunk, making a note of soil moisture content as you go down. This will help you to ascertain whether the soil has been, say, holding too much moisture against the trunk or restricting water to the main roots full stop.

In short, I recommend just stripping the soil back ASAP.

mancunian

Will get right on that first thing in the morning. Will let you know how it is doing at the end of summer. Thanks again for your help!

TreeSpecialist

Raising the soil level on the trunk of any tree is an invitation to trouble.

Where the tree originates from day one above ground, the tissue is different from the roots below ground. Lenticils - vents in the bark that allow for gas exchange - must not be covered. Saprophytes in the soil enter the tree through these vents and cause a wide variety of problems.

Even if the tree isn't infected, adventitious roots may form causing all kinds of problems 15 to 20 years after the fact.

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Brent Ferris

You want to remove the soil sooner than by the end of summer, waiting that long will lose another season of growth for the tree. If you can, take the soil back to the original level. It is unlikely that in 3 years there will have been much root growth in the new soil.

If your husband has trouble understanding how extra soil can be bad for the tree, tell him to put a pillow over his face, press down, and ask him how well he breathes.

Root suffocation is usually fatal unless reversed immediately. On some properties I have drilled a large number of holes (typically 1 x 1 ft spacing) and filled with airy organic matter - with the holes down to at least 6" below the original grade - with good results. Soil removal is the best option.

If you can, look at the shoot tip growth for the last several years. A branch grows a set amount each year - less in poor years, more in good years. The diameter of the shoot will vary each year, so will the colour. And at the beginning of each year's growth there will be an annular ring around the stem, delineating the length of the previous year's growth. If the growth has been less than 1/8 of an inch the last two years, remove the soil immediately and cross your fingers. Your tree should probably have a shoot tip growth of 4-6 inches per year when it is healthy.

Good luck, and tell your husband to put the soil somewhere well away from trees.

mancunian

I only just got back to this site and saw your post, I am grateful for the additional info. In my last post I meant I would let you know at the end of the summer if I see any change. I have already removed 8 inches of soil it seems to correspond with the original level. Is there any way, from the appearance of the trunk, to tell where the original level was? The surrounding garden is not much help for various reasons. It is raining cats and dogs at the moment so I can't check the rate of branch growth right now. Again many thanks, I would hate to lose this once beautiful tree, the autumn colour is glorious not to mention the fruit. I will keep you posted.

Brent Ferris

The texture of the stem bark should be different from the root bark, possibly a different colour. and there should be a ring of growth separating the two indicating the tissue change. This interface is the level the soil should be, but it may not be the level of the original soil, if the root ball was planted high or low, or the surrounding soil sank.

Glad to read you promptly removed the excess soil. I am sorry I misinterpreted how quickly you would act.

mancunian

Hi Treeshaveneeds, I wrote this yesterday and lost it while trying to find how to post a picture, I am still at a loss. First of all the part of the trunk that I exposed after removing some of the excess soil showed a paler colour and the texture was different- larger markings but I saw no ring of growth. I began removing more soil but it is so hard packed I was afraid to damage the bark. I also noticed a few small bunches of what appear to be fibrous roots some growing directly from the bark and a few a couple of inches away from the trunk. I watered thoroughly and it rained last night and again today so I thought I'd try again first though I am worried about the roots. Is it safe for me to proceed? About shoot tip growth, the last few years it has been 1/2-1" before that 4" and the bigger branches show about 8".
I demonstrated to me husband as you suggested, he now believes! lol

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Brent Ferris

I think you are deep enough, maybe even a little more. There is a slight colour change about 1 inch? above the ground in your picture, where the rough bark of the trunk changes colour, and becomes smoother bark below. And that colour change should be the stem/root interface. There is no need to go deeper. Perhaps one of the other members will confirm.

The shoot tip growth should be longer this year as the tree responds to less soil.

All the best.

dov

How does this look to you treeshaver? Without a bit more perspective it's hard to see where the removed soil was up to. No sign of buttress roots either, which makes it harder to guess.

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mancunian

Once again my gratitude!. I will let you know at the end of the growing season if there has been any improvement. Hope the economy upswings soon and impacts positively on your business. Best Wishes !

mancunian

Thanks also to Dov, Tree Specialist for all your help too. This is a great site

mancunian

Dov, just seen your newest post, the line you have drawn is the line where the soil was removed from, it was higher in the back. There were 3 twined trunks on this tree.

Brent Ferris

Yes Dov, you got it right.

Incidentally, the name actually goes trees have needs - it is amazing how many people think trees need shaving.

dov

Shaving? I guess you're too far north for Spanish Moss... So no whiskers on your trees.

The Tree Whisperer

if the soil change has happened over an extended period of time and has been applied in small amounts it is not likely to be the real cause of the decline in the tree.

I have a lot of personal experience with this issue and have consulted on and saved a number of trees that have shown similar symptoms to what you are talking about.

In this instance I suggest and from the supplied photo that your problem is that the raised soil has been placed against the trunk. This has caused collar rot. Effectively this means a loss of connectivity between roots and trunk and I would imagine the tree has been surviving on stored energy as opposed to retrieving new nutrients through root system for some time. Now that it has used that stored energy and can no longer get nutrients it is declining.

You MAY or MAY NOT be able to save this it will depend on how far gone the tree is.

1) dont wory so much about the soil over the roots but clear the soil from immediately against the trunk back at least 300mm and down to original soli level.

2) get a sharp chisel and poke into any soft looking/ discolored bark where the raised soil was. (you will probably notice a muddy dank smell- and usually the bark wil peel off in big chunks.

3) remove all the decayed rotten bark cleanly with the chisel back to heart wood and down as far as you can go. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL KNOW IF YOU AR GOING TO SAVE IT

NOTE: if there are only isolated spots of decayed bark cleaning it away and letting it air out will help and the tree wqill recover and heal over the wounds but if when you clean all the decay away you have gone all the way around the trunk or removed large sections with only a few small amount remaing then I have grave concerns for its long term viability.

DO NOT FERTILISE THE TREE..... THIS IS IMPORTANT as if the tree cant use the nutrient due to loss of connectivity between trunk and roots then it will remain in soiul and increase and can lead to Nutrient toxicity (TOO MUCH NUTRIENTS) this in turn burns the roots and will kill off fine feeder roots which are the life blood of the tree.

Contact a nursery person or agriculture supplie store and ask them about KELPAC (TM) this is a non nutrient based fertiliser that is high in auxins and cytokinnins which are the building blocks for new plant cells.

Also try Carbohydrate supplementation. This essentially is giving the tree a hit of sugar and is similar to the tree as it is to us when we get put on a drip in hospital.

this can be done by purchasing just normal sugar although (SUCROSE or FRUCTOSE is better) and applying it at a rate of 35g/L of water per m2.

apply to every area where roots might be growing including garden beds etc and even if you can (over the neighbours fence if it is against a fence) as roots will also extend out there.

You should notice results in app 2-3 weeks

Let me know how you go and if you need any further information

The Tree Whisperer

Brent Ferris

Just so you know Tree Whisperer, I have also consulted with a number of people in my area - and if soil removal is an option (usually not) because of soil dumping of 6 inches to 3 ft, or soil drilling to compensate for suffocation - and people go along, some trees do recover.

I agree collar rot is a significant problem, but so is widespread suffocation. It did seem in Mancunian's case that the soil had been added over the last 3 years, and removal was a reasonable possibility. Thank you for bringing up the problem of collar rot, and sharing your experience of how to treat it.

However, I like the idea of giving the trees the liquid seaweed Kelpak - is apparently high in Magnesium, and high in Auxins, enhancing the development and growth of root tips, thus enhancing cytokinin production. I am unclear at moment of the availability in Canada, but will look into it. The products available here seem to use Atlantic seaweeds.

And the shot of sugar sounds interesting. Are you using corn syrup for your source of fructose and sucrose, or High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) ?

The Tree Whisperer

Trees have needs
Firstly if you are using KELPAC tm there are several formulations and some have added macro nutrients the one you need to use in this case should have a 0 N:P:K ratio (yes it is available in this formulation) the trick here is not to add any nutrients to a tree in this situation just increase the cell division through Auxins and cytokinin increase and it will start to recover by itself. Once it is showing signs of recovery then start light nutrient supplemenetation.

Yes I agree the removal of soil is paramount however just be aware that if the soil has been there for some time and has not been heavily compacted there WILL be an amount of small hair and feeder roots that have grown into this removal of these at this stage could be critical as I am sure you well Know these are the roots the tree needs and removal at this stage could be detrimental. The KEY is to ensure first vascualr connectivity between roots and trunk, then take care of the other stuff.

Also in regards to the carbohydrate supplementation I am not sure where the root source of the product comes from I have used Sucrose from an agriculture supply store (animal feed supplement). and I have had really good results. The tree I saved is almost 100yrs old and is a Norfolk Island Pine that has had 7/10ths of its roots severed for landscaping uplight installation.

Amazing isnt it that they liked the tree so much they wanted to highlight and light it up, so they cut all its roots off so it could die - GREAT LOGIC THERE

Brent Ferris

Thanks for the info and reply - I will use it to good advantage for the next job like this - there's bound to be one this year.

I expect the people assumed the Norfolk Pine had a big tap root -- All trees have a BIG taproot, don't they? (sarcasm) -- so, cutting off all the surface roots couldn't harm the tree, could it? After all, almost all the books laypeople buy show trees have a gi-normous tap root, and miniscule side roots..If we want to break the cycle, we tree people need to hammer thru the message for the next century, burn the existing books, publish new ones with the right info, get the laypeople to join forums like this one, and cross our fingers.

It is quite impressive that having cut off that many roots, you were still able to keep the Norfolk Pine alive. It sounds like you were called in shortly after landscaping was done, or maybe a bit before, instead of 1 or more years later, and asked to resurrect a hopeless almost dead tree. Congratulations!

The Tree Whisperer

Actually we were brought in about 18 months after work was done and this is why I am so impressed with this method. Remeber that a tree can live for a number of years on stored energy but if it cannot replace that energy the it cannot live. The big problem with this kind of work is that people hack the tree roots, finish the work and leave then the tree takes usually 2-5 yrs to show real signs of senescence. by then people have forgotten that there was ever any work done and in cases of large tree usually say 'oh well its pretty old must be dying of old age' I DIDNT REALISE TREES HAD HEARTS!!!! - IDIOTS! any hoo. it works I am monitoring this one and keeping records and maybe will put together an article on it who knows got to find time. Any way hope you have similar sucess to this.

Eric Frei

We have some existing solid research into sugar suppliments.

http://www.treeworld.info/f9/sugar-w...-soil-561.html

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