horsechestnut tree

shirley2143

What is happening to the horsechestnut tree when it's leaves turn brown and dry up and fall off quickly in the summer?.

Garry Brockley

We need some history here please and photos to help us along otherwise we
are almost in the dark,

• how old is the tree,
• where is it situated,
• are there any fungi on or near the tree,
• what has the weather been doing leading up to the event,
• have you had any building/ landscape work done,
• have you fertilised/weed killed anything around the tree.
• has the tree been damaged or pruned lately.

hope this helps

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shirley2143

shirley2143

to Galbee74468
Thank you for your questions about my horsechestnut tree. I shall answer them the best I can. I do not have a picture yet. My tree is 150 years old. This tree was planted when our house was built in 1944's. The tree is situated on the east side of our house and is fairly close by with a small garden and walkway between them.
There has been fungi on the tree which I have seen fall to the ground.
The weather now is cool in our autumn time. It rained a lot this summer.
We have not done any building or landscaping recently. Twenty-five years ago we dug a water line into our house, near our horsechestnut tree.
We have not fertilized or weed sprayed near the tree.
The tree lost three large limbs 23 years ago. That summer it rained a lot and the tree holds a lot of water, causing the heavy limbs to break off the trunk.
Luckily, no one was outside at that time. The weight of the limbs cracked our cement walkway. We had the tree trimmed severely then, so no more large limbs would fall. And this has not happened again. Suckers or "bullwood" have grown and the canopy of the tree looks better. It is rounded on top. We do need to prune again soon, to tidy up the tree and cut away dead branches.
I hope this helps. The tree still weeps brown juicy liquid. What would this be? Thanks again. I am doing a school project on our responses and thanks for helping me get my assignment finished. Shirley

shirley2143

Thank you Galbee 74468:
The history of my horse chestnut tree is as follows:
The tree is at least 150 years old, planted in the late 1840's because the house was built in 1844.
The tree is on the east side of our two-story house.
Yes, fungi has fallen off the tree.
The weather has been very wet this summer and now it is cool autumn days.
WE have not fertilized or weed sprayed near this tree.
We have not built or done any landscaping near this tree.
The tree dropped 3 large branches 23 years ago, due to too much rain.
The limbs were very very heavy with water. The centres of the limbs were a little hollow and very brown inside.
The horse chestnut tree needs to be trimmed again.
Thanks for your time and consideration, about what is happening to our old tree.
Shirley2143

Garry Brockley

Hi shirley unfortunately it seems as if you were given poor advice on the trimming, lopping is a very poor thing to do to a healthy tree but a 150 year old will eventually kill the tree, sometimes very quickly.
the growth you call bullwood is epicormic growth, it is the tree putting out leaves to enable it to photosynthesiseis which is the process by which organisms that contain the pigment chlorophyll convert light energy into chemical energy that can be stored in the molecular bonds of organic molecules i.e. sugars. by removing all of the limbs you have potentially cut off all of the trees available starch rescourses inthe top of the tree and in severe cases the whole tree, this has the effect of starving the tree to death.
About the fungi it could have been any one of a large selection but each one has its own down sides but all indicate a pathogen within the tree the fungi are just the fruiting bodies i.e. flowers and fruit on a plant, with aesculus hippocastanum the older trees have generally have a poorer decay resistance in exposed wood (second reason not to lop trees) if the fungi were blueish grey or greyish brown fan shaped this could indicate Pleurotus ostreatus which could have caused the limb failure in the first place which is where a correct diagnosis by a qualified arborist in the first place would have saved you alot of time money and heart ache.
so in reflection your tree sounds like it is in decline and will only be put into further decline if you have it severely lopped.
if you are able please post some pictures as these will help other people that have this problem.
my appologies for the bad news but sometimes the truth is hard to take and hind sight is a wonderful thing.
i hope this helps
Galbee

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shirley2143

To Galbee:
Thank you very much for your great insight to our horse chestnut tree. We too feel this is a dying tree and it has given us many years of shade and has kept out house very cool in hot summers. I really appreciate this information and will get an arborist to check it out. This has helped me very much in my classroom discussion. Thanks again.
Shirley2143:

Gunslinger

Sorry Shirley, but is the tree 50 or 150 years old?

shirley2143

to Gunslinger 75201
My tree was planted in 1844ish (not 1944, error in typing)after our house was built in 1844 in Ontario, Canada. It has been trimmed regularly. Today it is as tall as a two-story house, but it was twice as tall. It has been a natural air-conditioner for our old home. The tree has shaded our east side of the house and keeping us cool in hot summers.
Shirley2143;