Help with mature trees on a fairly new property? Some maybe dying?

HorseTrainer

Hello! I recently (7months ago) acquired a lease on a large horse property in arizona. Im a horse trainer, not so great with plants, but the owners explained how they cared for their trees and pastures for the last ten years. I changed some of the pasture management (That I know a little about!) but continued with the trees as they specified. When I acquired the property, it had been in the care of their cousins for two months during the heat of our summer, and they had not watered the trees at all.
I'm having trouble with our fruit trees (ok, they look pretty dead, like sticks stuck in the dirt!) and a few of the large mature arizona cottonwoods. Most of the cottonwoods are greening up already, but seven have no leaves at all, and one (that I have checked) has lil red spots growing all over it, the bark flakes off easily and underneath is black powdery. They told me to keep the sprinklers on all winter, we rotated between sets of trees once a week, because the ground was freezing and icing over, and I have never before heard of watering trees all winter! Did I kill our trees?
Normally they run their sprinklers all day, year round, but I am wondering if this hasn't caused some of their trees to get too much water and rot. The sprinklers aren't a drip, most of the trees which now are not getting leaves had puddles around the base of the tree a few inches deep constantly(hence the freezing puddles in the winter). Common plant sense suggested this is not healthy, but maybe I was wrong, since they aren't growing now!
The fruit trees I have mostly given up hope on, the owners stripped the bark all the way around with a weedeater (more then once by the looks of it) and being very young trees, I beleive they have died.
Can anyone help and is there anything I can do to help my trees come back? Thank you very much!

Eric Frei

Please can you get some pictures up.

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Brent Ferris

From your description, the fruit trees are dead, and the poplars are on the way out. Trees aren't usually watered in the winter (except what Nature provides). Pics will make for conclusive remarks.

I hope the rest of the property was left in better shape with better directions than the plants. Sounds to me like the previous owners (if they were being truthful) didn't know much about plants either.

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My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

HorseTrainer

Ok, so here are some pictures of a few of the trees I am having trouble with. Some I am positive are dead, some are well on their way out, but I'm hoping maybe they can be saved? All the ones who are dead now (for sure dead) had very minimal foliage last year, the ones that arent completely dead also had less foliage then some of the other trees last year, but they have a few (very few!) buds and so I'm holding out some hope on them!
We also (if this helps) have extremely sandy soil here, all of the other plants I have planted have needed some balanced fertilizer to really do well, as has the pastures to grow healthy grass. Should I be doing this for my trees as well, and what should I be using? Thanks you guys so much!
Yeah, the watering system they had set up here was not practical, and I don't think they were doing their trees any favors flooding their trunks year round.

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HorseTrainer

heres one of the healthier seeming trees.

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HorseTrainer

And a few more of the dead ones! It's very frustrating, I have no idea why they are dying, but the landlords are very sure I personally killed them by limiting their water for three months while we were in the freezing temps, and golly are they mad! LOL!

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Eric Frei

What I see.

The orange stuff .... rust, fungal, treat with appropriate fungicide.

Soil, sandy, no mulch, well draining, low nutrient levels. All this means poor soil.

First check the pH.

Try to mulch trees to the drip line about 2" thick, keep 6" away from trunk. Use organic fertilizers (blood & Bone, seaweed extract). I would also say the soil is unfavourable to supporting a healthy microbial biomass, introduction of mycorrhizal fungi beneath the mulch advisable.

Moisture, if soil is sandy as it appears in pics then use a soil wetting agent frequently.

Attached Files

Microbial Biomass.pdf (483.8 KB, 22 views)

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HorseTrainer

Thanks so much! I will do that for all the trees, and if I might ask, what can I do with the watering situation in sandy soil that would be most favorable? I know the mulch will help a lot!

Eric Frei

Put a soaker or dripper system beneath the mulch.

There is also methods available that allow for fertilizers and wetting agents to be delivered via the irrigation system. But I do urge, stay organic with the fertilizers, there are liquid ones.

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Brent Ferris

I second Eric with organic fertilizers ONLY and liquid seaweed. If it is feasible, add well rotted compost into the sand to a depth of 12 to 16" to enhance microfaunal populations, sites to retain nutrients, and moisture up to 20 foot radius from each tree (or new planting). THis will increase the choice of plants to replant with.
And consider planting some trees more suited to dry sandy conditions. While Poplars will grow in sand, and they are considered to be pioneering plants, they tend to prefer a fresh to dry moisture condition vs dry. Generally Pines and Junipers do better in droughty conditions. As do plants that tolerate salty conditions -- like some of the shrubs.
The more plants you can establish, the more moisture will be retained in the soil, (more shade) and at least some of the areas will be less desert like.

Many people think sand holds no water, so a lot of watering is necessary. But the voids between the particles fill with water, and the grains tend to retain films of water around them. Watering incessantly like the previous owners did means the voids are always filling with water, and the tree roots can get no oxygen, another prime requisite for healthy tree growth.

__________________
My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)